MSP's are not impressed by their dining facilities

Some stories just leave a bad taste in the mouth, and this is one of them.

After all the shite and controversy that has surrounded the £431 million Parliament building project, you might think that Scotland’s MSP’s would be just a little bit sensitive to the public’s view of politicians wasting public money.

But oh no, not them.

Having demonstrated their detachment from the real world by deciding to award themselves subsidised meals, our poor old politicians are now staying away from the exclusive restaurant which was set up in the building to cater for them because in their view it’s “not good enough”.

As a result of which, the most expensively built restaurant in history lies largely empty and the taxpayer is now expected to foot the cost of its under-utilised existence to the tune of around £80,000 a year.

For ordinary Scots who struggle daily to make ends meet and put food on their own table, that kind of unnecessary drain on public money isn’t just hard to swallow, it’s enough to make them gag.

A three course meal in the Parly restaurant can be had for around £6 a head (see sample menu below), little more than the price ordinary people pay for a takeaway fish supper.

So what’s the problem?

Ah well, they say, “the atmosphere is a bit flat, the lighting could be a bit more ambient and some music would be nice.”

Some have complained that “there are no pictures on the walls. It’s a bit minimalist.”

The poor deprived dears.

As FirstFoot sees it, there are two simple solutions to this problem. Both of which will save the taxpayer 80 grand in subsidies.

Solution 1) Shut the fucking place down. What they don’t use, they’re hardly going to miss.

Solution 2) Make all the changes the critics are asking for. Improve the lighting, put in a few pot plants, hang a few pictures on the walls and have Andy Stewart or whoever else they want blasting out of the quadraphonic sound system. Fine. Then charge the MSP’s who dine there the proper going rate for a meal in an upmarket eatery, so no subsidies are required.

With average MSP salaries in excess of £50,000 a year, the fusspot fatcats can well afford it, so we’re fucked if we can see why the public should have to fork out for their food.

Fresh from the fiasco of a £370 million overspend on their shiny new headquarters, it’s large helpings of humble pie the profligate buggers should be eating, not lunches paid for in part by you and I.