A Scottish Nationalist MP is at the centre of an expenses row after a fellow party politician paid her company £87,616 of taxpayers’ money from his parliamentary expense account.

Chic Brodie, the SNP Scottish Parliament member for South of Scotland, handed the sum to start-up company Caledonii Resources, which is 90 per cent owned by Corri Wilson, SNP MP for Ayr.

Mr Brodie said last night he paid Ms Wilson as “outsourced contract staff” to do constituency casework and arrange meetings for him.

However, Ms Wilson described herself in Companies House filings as “unemployed (ex-civil service)” for the entire period when the payments were made.

The amounts paid were up to 85 per cent higher than those allowed for staff by the Westminster parliamentary expenses watchdog, Ipsa.