If like me you are fed up with all the negative media about SNP donations, please condider completing this Have Yur Say and encourage all your friends, relatives, work colleagues do do the same.
It takes less than 2 minutes, and our responses will demonstrate the real strength of support from SNP members and donors at this important time.
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https://t.co/XX0Xku5pM4; I have just completed this HYS. It takes less than 2 minutes. Our responses will demonstrate the real strength of support from SNP members and donors at this important time.
https://t.co/ev3bCQTeXe; I have just completed this HYS. It takes less than 2 minutes. Our responses will demonstrate the real strength of support from SNP members and donors at this important time.
Oh dear. BBC Scotland has concealed the fact that it was the *SNP itself* that contacted HMRC. The headline invites the reader to infer otherwise. For people whose profession it is to ensure accuracy when reporting, this can only be deliberate.
HOLYROOD'S REAL PUBLIC SERVANTS Vs ONE VERY DUBIOUS CHARITY CASE
SNP cabinet ministers have returned nearly £2 million in pay with full audit trails. Reform’s Malcolm Offord promised his entire salary to a trust he alone controls — one the Scottish charity regulator has now opened a formal inquiry into.
SNP cabinet ministers have voluntarily frozen the ministerial part of their pay at 2008-09 levels for 17 years. They take the full legal salary but immediately return the excess straight to the Scottish Government for public spending — over £1.94 million returned by March 2024, projected to hit £2.64 million by 2026.
Fully auditable: The figures come from official Scottish Government FOI responses (e.g. FOI-202500451978) and are absorbed into audited public accounts checked annually by Audit Scotland. Anyone can request their own FOI for proof — it’s black-and-white government records, not party spin.
Reform’s approach (Malcolm Offord only):
The sole notable pledge is from Reform Scotland leader Malcolm Offord, who said he would donate his entire MSP salary (~£78,000/year) to the Badenoch Trust. No other Reform MSP has done anything similar, and there is no party-wide policy.Emphasis on Offord’s arrangement.
This has been widely criticised as a less-than-admirable scam. Offord personally controls the tiny Badenoch Trust (director, secretary, and controlling trustee; the only other trustee is his personal assistant).
The charity is registered only in England & Wales, operates from his Edinburgh office, and was never registered with OSCR (Scotland’s regulator) despite operating solely in Scotland.
OSCR opened a formal inquiry in May 2026 and ordered it to register. No donations have been publicly confirmed yet. Critics call it self-dealing: public money routed through a vehicle Offord controls with minimal oversight and clear regulatory breach.
Pros & Cons comparison
SNP approach
Pros: Long-term (17 years), collective, fully transparent and auditable, money goes directly to the public purse — genuine, verifiable sacrifice.
Cons: Limited to ministers only; total sum modest compared to Scotland’s budget; partial U-turn in 2025 looks opportunistic.
Reform/Offord approach
Pros: Bolder on paper — full salary donation.
Cons: Individual only, unproven, routed through a self-controlled charity in regulatory breach — lacks independence, transparency, and credibility. Far more optics than substance.
Bottom line: The SNP’s policy is clearly the stronger, more admirable, and fully auditable example of politician restraint. Offord’s pledge collapses under scrutiny into something far more dubious.
Credit: @CMS481 for original post/research.
(Photo of Offord Parody, Satire)
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