The slap up meal – organised by the Confederation of British Industries (CBI) – was also attended by world leaders including John Kerry, the US Special Envoy for Climate.
UK Government ministers Kwasi Kwarteng and Rishi Sunak also attended the dinner, where guests tucked into roast beef and apple crumble with a calvados sauce
Kate Forbes, Secretary for finance and the economy, who was entertained during Covid pandemic.
Among the MSPs who attended were Kate Forbes, Secretary for finance and the economy, who may not have been aware at the time that she was “eating for two”; Angus Robertson, the secretary for the constitution, external affairs and culture, Conservative MSP Brian Whittle, and Labour MSP and Dundee councillor, Michael Marra. The CBI confirmed 12 MSPs attended in total.
However, no information for eight of the MSPs that attended the dinner appears on the Scottish Parliaments lobbying register. Only one MSP added a voluntary declaration about the hospitality received to their Register of Interests.
It is likely that private companies paid for all 12 MSPs to attend. Firms that engage in face to face meetings with MSPs are supposed to enter this activity on the lobbying register.
The Ferret has only been able to identify one MSP, Labour’s Michael Marra, who volunteered to declare the hospitality received in the in the MSPs Register of Interests. The Register of Interests is is where MSPs declare the gifts, properties and other financial interests they hold or receive.
Labour MSP Michael Marra attended as a guest of Tesco. He was the only MSP to declare his attendance at the event on his register of interest. In his entry on the Scottish Parliament website he said the meal was worth £200.
In response, environmental campaigners have called for the Scottish Parliament to change its rules to force businesses and politicians to publish more details about their meetings, arguing that the “public has a right to know the full extent to which politicians are being lobbied.”