Fire-starting Labour peer handed prison term
Labour peer Mike Watson has been jailed for 16 months for starting a fire and endangering lives at an exclusive Edinburgh hotel.
The 56-year-old admitted deliberately setting fire to a curtain after drinking heavily at the Scottish Politician of the Year awards ceremony at the Prestonfield House hotel last year.
Lord Watson, who has an honorary doctorate of law from Abertay University, lost his Glasgow Central seat in 1997 following boundary changes and a defeat in a candidate selection contest to Mohammad Sarwar.
He was later made Lord Watson of Invergowrie and successfully contested the seat of Glasgow Cathcart in the Scottish parliament in 1999.
The peer initially denied any wrongdoing, despite CCTV footage appearing to catch him committing arson.
But he resigned the seat after the fire incident this month, and was expelled by the Scottish Labour party yesterday.
The blaze caused £4,500 of damage.
