THE politician hubby of crooked former MP Natalie McGarry will keep his top financial watchdog role despite being embroiled in his wife’s cash scandal, it emerged last night

David Meikle still heads Glasgow City Council’s finance and audit scrutiny committee - even though shamed McGarry transferred embezzled cash to him and they spent it on a holiday to Spain.

2 David Meikle has kept his finance role within the Glasgow City Council - despite calls to quit

Senior local authority sources claim Mr Meikle should stand down from the convener role - which ensures financial good practice for Scotland’s biggest council’s £1.3bn budget - due to unanswered questions about his part in the scandal.

But last night, new Tory group leader, Councillor Thomas Kerr, said Mr Meikle would keep his job - and admitted he hadn’t event asked him about what he knew of the stolen cash.

Mr Kerr said: “David has done a great job over the past two years on it (the committee), and we won’t be making any changes to that at all.

“Obviously the stuff that came out was unfortunate, but David hasn’t been charged with anything.

“These are allegations about Natalie. We’ll see how it progresses, but right now he’s got my full confidence.”

Asked if he’s quizzed Mr Meikle about what he knew and when, Mr Kerr said: “No - right now I’m brand new to the job, so we’ve not discussed what has happened. I will be speaking to him at some point to find out exactly what it was. I do know the party (HQ) has had conversations with him.”

Senior local authority sources said the revelation about Mr Meikle at the city’s sheriff court on Friday came as a ”shock” to top city officials.

2 Meikle's wife - ex-SNP MP Natalie McGarry - embezzled money to him for a holiday Credit: PA:Press Association

He was not prosecuted alongside his wife, and there are no rules to bar him from his role due to the details that emerged - unless a complaint is lodged and upheld by standards watchdogs.

But a senior political insider on the council said: “The details read out in court last week - money paid to him to fund a holiday - means there are serious difficulties for him continuing in his role.

“One of the things that the finance and audit committee deals with is misappropriation and misuse of funds, and what’s done in those circumstances.

“There are serious questions about what David knew and at what stage he knew.”

Mr Meikle, 35, a councillor since 2007, raised eyebrows by quitting as leader of the council’s Tory group on May 1 - the same day McGarry failed in a bizarre bid to reverse her earlier guilty plea to two charges of embezzlement.

At that hearing, prosecutor Gerard Drugan began reading a rundown of the facts of the case after Sheriff Paul Crozier rejected her u-turn attempt.

But McGarry’s lawyer Allan Macleod stepped in to claimed there were problems, and the proceedings were adjourned until last Friday, May 10.

Mr Meikle said he was quitting his top Tory role hours after his wife’s failed bid for a plea u-turn, due to “added constraints on my time due to being a parent”. He made no mention of the scandal.

When the case came back to court on Friday, the details about Mr Meikle were read out - ahead of her sentencing on June 6.

Another senior council source said: “The details about Mr Meikle were a bolt from the blue and leave serious questioning hanging over him.

“It’s completely inappropriate for him to be in charge of such a sensitive committee, dealing with issues including any financial impropriety, until he has cleared up all of this and we have had assurances police are not investigating him too.

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“There is a council meeting on Thursday and he should do the right thing and step down. Or the Tory group should tell him his time is up.”

We told on Saturday how crooked McGarry splurged some of the £25,000 she nicked from pro-indy groups on rent arrears and a holiday to Spain.

The 37-year-old mum-of-one transferred embezzled cash to Tory hubby David Meikle for their week’s break. The holiday was paid for with his Barclaycard, which she had moved some of the Women For Independence cash on to.

She also used WFI funds and cheques on two other occasions to pay rent and make transfers to Meikle.

In total, McGarry pocketed £21,000 while acting as treasurer for WFI between April 26, 2013, and November 30, 2015. Some of the stolen funds were intended for a foodbank. McGarry also pocketed £4,661 from SNP’s Glasgow Regional Association.

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: ‘We don’t comment on internal discussions. David Meikle has a 12 years unbroken service as a councillor on Glasgow City Council and he has the full support of the party.

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