 | 'Watson, who was fined following a drunken brawl as a youth, caused £4500 of damage after The Herald's Scottish Politician of the Year Awards on November 12 last year.' Iain Wilson and Tom Gordon, in the Herald, 2 nd September 2005. |  |
| 'Watson, who was fined following a drunken brawl as a youth, caused £4500 of damage after The Herald's Scottish Politician of the Year Awards on November 12 last year.' Iain Wilson and Tom Gordon, in the Herald, 2 nd September 2005. | |
THE life and career of the Labour peer, Lord Watson, was in ruins last night after he admitted deliberately starting a fire at an exclusive hotel following an awards ceremony for the country's leading politicians.
The man who introduced the fox hunting ban to Scotland resigned immediately as an MSP. He could now be jailed but will still remain in the House of Lords.
Almost 10 months have passed since he was exposed by The Herald after being captured on CCTV drunkenly starting a fire at the Prestonfield Hotel in Edinburgh.
Last night, pressure was growing on the former minister for tourism, culture and sport to abandon the second chamber at Westminster. Although peers are not paid, they can claim daily allowances of £245.50 plus travel costs.
Watson, 56, claimed yesterday at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to have "no recollection" of wilfully setting fire to curtains at the hotel. However, there was little sympathy from colleagues, and anger after his spokesman insisted: "He is a life peer and he will remain with that title."
Watson, who was fined following a drunken brawl as a youth, caused £4500 of damage after The Herald's Scottish Politician of the Year Awards on November 12 last year.
In court, he watched intently the footage which showed him crouching at curtains, then returning as flames spread and the room filled with smoke. Adrian Fraser, prosecuting, said Watson made no attempt to raise the alarm. He was drunk, and earlier had been hostile to a night porter, and "forcefully" pressed staff for more alcohol.
Paul Burns, Watson's lawyer, said: "The events of this night are as incomprehensible to Mr Watson as they must be to the many people who have looked at them and puzzled over them."
But he hinted there were reasons other than alcohol for his "incomprehensible" actions. "There are sadnesses and disappointments in (his) private life that I suspect go some long way to explaining the sad chain of events." Mr Burns stressed there were no excuses, given the potential danger to hotel patrons.
The court was told Watson's behaviour had become increasingly irrational at the function. He was chastised by a representative from The Herald over rudeness towards hotel staff who refused him alcohol after the bar closed. Fifteen minutes later, the fire alarm went off and CCTV soon revealed Watson to be the culprit.
A not guilty plea to a second alleged fire-raising in another hotel room was accepted.
Sheriff Kathrine Mackie called for social inquiry and community service reports. An offer to seek a psychiatric report was declined by Watson's defence.
The disgraced peer was silent on leaving court with his third wife, Clare, but Malcolm Brown, his PR spokesman, said: "He fully recognises that his inexplicable actions on that evening which were totally out of character have caused great distress to a number of people." He apologised to Watson's constituents in Glasgow and the people at Prestonfield.
He can expect to pick up an annual £6000 pension from Holyrood when aged 65. A similar sum will be paid by Westminster, where he was an MP for eight years. His enhanced ministerial role will also have to be taken into account, and he will receive a "winding up" allowance of up to £19,000 to cover Holyrood staff wages and office payments.
The Elect the Lords Campaign said the case "again de-monstrates the need for reform, just as when Lord Archer was convicted and imprisoned for perjury several years ago".
However, there are no government plans to resurrect a bill that would strip peers of their titles on conviction.
Scottish Labour said Watson's future with the party would be decided after sentence. The SNP said that his behaviour left him no option but to resign as an MSP, adding: "There is no place in public life for someone convicted of such a serious offence."
Nicol Stephen, Scottish LibDem leader, said: "Everyone would agree he has done the right thing by resigning as an MSP." Bill Aitken, Scottish Tory chief whip, said: "It is quite right that he tenders his resignation as an MSP."
Sentence on the Glasgow Cathcart MSP was deferred until September 22.
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