Former First Minister Alex Salmond claimed the most travel and subsistence expenses of any MP last year, new figures have revealed.
The MP for Gordon racked up a total bill of £48,470.66 over the financial year 2015/16, according to official body IPSA.
Scottish Labour pointed out some Nationalist politicians claimed more than their predecessors, a claim hotly contested by SNP sources who argued former MPs’ final year submissions were low because there was less parliamentary time due to the general election.
A Labour spokesman said: “These figures show SNP MPs are milking the system for all it is worth and taking taxpayers for a ride.
“These huge increases in expenses claims are seeing some SNP MPs claiming five times more than their predecessors.
“Nicola Sturgeon should order an internal audit of her MPs spending at the taxpayers’ expense, at a time where local services are facing hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts her MPs are living the high life.”
And Mr Salmond hit back aggressively, accusing Labour of trying “to score cheap political points” and making “the most embarrassing of blunders”.
He pointed out his travel expenses were £19,353.06. The IPSA travel and subsistence code also includes staff travel and accommodation costs, which is included in the £48,470.66 figure.
A spokesman for Mr Salmond said: “Alex, as a former First Minister, is under security advice from the Sergeant of Arms never to travel alone on public transport.
“No-one from the Labour Party at Westminster would ever question such advice given the tragic circumstances befalling the late Jo Cox MP.
“For Labour in Scotland to attempt to make political capital out of this and to hugely exaggerate Mr Salmond’s expenses is beneath contempt.”
MPs’ spending on security soared to nearly £640,000 in the months following the killing of Ms Cox.
Jim Shannon, DUP MP for Strangford, topped the list of overall claims with total costs of just under a quarter of a million pounds (£245,931.74).
