Douglas Ross to be probed by Commons standards watchdog over undeclared earnings

Westminster’s parliamentary standards commissioner is to investigate Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross after he admitted not declaring earnings of around £28,000 on his register of interests. 

Last month, The Herald reported that the MSP and MP, who also works as an assistant referee, had failed to lodge his Holyrood salary of £21,000 and around £7000 earned for work on 16 football games.

The commissioner’s website states that Ross is being investigated for possible breaches of the MPs’ code of conduct, relating to "registration of an interest under Category 1 of the Guide to the Rules (Employment and earnings)".

A spokesman for Ross said: “Douglas referred himself to the Standards Commissioner for investigation and he will support the conclusion they reach.”

The SNP's deputy leader Kirsten Oswald said: "Douglas Ross is just the latest in a long line of Tories who find themselves up to their neck in sleaze.

"By failing to declare thousands of pounds from multiple side hustles, and missing crucial votes in Parliament to run the line at football matches, Mr Ross is in clear breach of the rules.”