SKY-HIGH SPENDING

Sturgeon and staff spent £10k on airport VIP services, SNP accused of 'frittering cash on frivolous purchases

- PAUL HUTCHEON

NICOLA Sturgeon and her staff used nearly £10,000 of public money to be treated like “royalty” in airports when she was first minister. 

A credit card data dump reveals civil servants paid for Sturgeon to receive "VIP" upgrades when ordinary passengers had to stand in line.

The disclosures came after Labour got access to nearly 60,000 individual spending entries on internal credit cards made by officials.

The spending covers late 2019 to 2022, spans many government departments and totals £14.2million.

The public purse was also used to buy six copies of Sturgeon’s selected speeches as well as the government’s own independence white paper.

Labour finance spokesman Michael Marra said: “These are the spending habits of an arrogant and entitled government with no regard for taxpayers.

“ The SNP government is frittering away public money on frivolous purchases and VIP treatment while services are stretched to breaking point.”

According to the figures, Sturgeon and her entourage routinely used lavish “meet and greet” airport services.

One of the firms, Ace Handling Ltd, is based at Gatwick Airport and is clear about the high end service it provides with the boast: “We treat you like royalty.”