Abolish Holyrood Party

John Mortimer: It's time to abolish Holyrood

John Mortimer: It's time to abolish Holyrood

With six months to go to the Holyrood elections, Mark Devlin talks to John Mortimer, of the Abolish The Scottish Parliament Party, about the party’s progress and goals. 

What is the aim of the party?

The party’s flagship policy, of course, is to abolish the Scottish Parliament, which we consider to be a divisive waste of money. We believe that the £100 million running costs each year would be better spent on health and education, and that the powers and funding that the Scottish Government has centralised in Edinburgh, should be returned back to local authorities. The grounds of the Parliament building should be turned into homes for veterans.

Devolution has failed: Abolish Holyrood

Devolution has failed: Abolish Holyrood

How much does it cost to change a lightbulb at Holyrood?

A few quid perhaps? Maybe ten or twenty quid at a stretch? No… in fact it turns out it costs £357 to change a lightbulb at the Scottish parliament building. Some £1.75 Million was spent on upgrading lights in the devolved assemblies’ debating chamber in 2016-7, working out at an astonishing £357 apiece.

That same year, costs ranged from £25.6 Million in staff salaries, to £15.8 Million in parliamentary expenses. All in all, the total bill for the devolved assembly came in at a whopping £95,600,000. Perhaps such largesse should not be surprising; after all the ugly carbuncle that is this Scottish parliament building famously came in at a total cost of £414,000,000 to construct; roughly ten times over budget and three years late, to boot.