Resigning was the best thing David Marshall ever did for Glasgow East

As soon as David Marshall resigned as Glasgow East’s MP, everyone was looking for the “real” story. Unkind souls say that most MPs stay in office through invalidity so their families can receive the mammoth death-in-service payout (a lump sum of four times their pensionable salary, plus whatever their ill-health pension would have been – details here). Given there are (scandalously) zero requirements made of an MP – you can jet off to Barbados for four years after being elected if you want – it is possible for the infirm to be elected from their hospital beds. So an MP who stands down due to ill health (like Marshall) is, in effect, denying their family this huge lump sum. So should we not salute Marshall for his honest in not indulging in this scam?

Since he quit, the press has smelt a large, whiskered rat and went hunting for it. The Glasgow Herald today reports on some rumours