David Maddox: Rewards for failure

So what price failure in the Scottish Government. Well in the last two years it has been £163,024.25, a price paid not by failed ministers but to them by the poor old tax payer.

This nuggest came out in a recent parliamentary answer by John Swinney to Lord George Foulkes, Baron of Cumnock, Labour MSP for the Lothians, First Lord of the Twittery.

It seems that 10 Labour and Lib Dem ministers who lost their jobs in May 2007 because the electorate preferred the SNP were paid £99,742.50 between them as a pay-off.

Then the three former SNP ministers - Stewart Maxwell (bottom left), Linda Fabiani (mid left) and Maureen Watt (top left) - deemed so hopeless by Alex salmond that he sacked them got £43,730.75 between them for not being up to the job - that's £14,576.92 each.

Hamish Macdonell - not playing ball.

THE Greens really have taken a huff over last week's budget.
They have just decided not to endorse the appointment of the three new SNP ministers. Such votes are usually passed without comment or controversy, but not this time. It really does seem as though the threats of Green non-co-operation over the budget vote (which saw the Greens as the only party to vote against the Budget) with the Scottish Government have come to fruition.
Their decision is all the more surprising, however, given that the Greens actually have an agreement with the Scottish Government to support certain votes, including the appointment of ministers.
The Greens and the SNP signed up to a deal which guaranteed Patrick Harvie a committee convenership in return for Green support for the appointment of SNP ministers.
Now that deal has broken down but, as the Greens were keen to point out yesterday, their agreement only covered the appointment of the original ministers in 2007, not any subsequent votes.
Alex Salmond is probably wishing he never bothered negotiating with them at all on the budget, so difficult have they become.
ends