It's a wonderful world...

... for some.

The parasite class is at it again:

KEITH Raffan, the MSP who resigned after he claimed more than £40,000 in car mileage expenses, has applied for a pension from Holyrood, it was revealed yesterday.

Mr Raffan, whose travel claims are being looked at by Scottish parliament officials, has claimed that he is entitled to the pension at the age of 56 because he is unable to work.

Forget for the moment Mr Raffan's utter uselessness as a politician and focus instead on his apparent unemployability as a result of having a "bad back". We might charitably think that he was indeed entitled to draw his pension early. The problem is, you see, that I'm one of those awkward buggers who like to check the small print. Like this:

The value of the former MSP's pension can be calculated by multiplying his average salary over the past 12 months by the years of "reckonable" service. The figure is then divided by 50. With five years' service and nine years to go before reaching 65, Mr Raffan would be entitled to around £15,000 per annum.

An MSP's salary is around £50,000 pa. So, £50,000 multiplied by five and divided by fifty gives not £15,000 but £5,000. Fortunately, the Herald explains all:

If an independent doctor's advice agrees with his claim, he could be paid about £15,000 a year, what he would expect to earn as a pension if he had remained an MSP from the start of this year until the age of 65.

Aha! So the "reckonable service" isn't five years, but 14 years. Am I the only person who is outraged by this? Millions of private sector workers fund their own pension investments. If they are unfortunate enough to be unable to work beyond 56 because of a "bad back", guess what? Tough shit! No one enhances those pensions as if one had really worked to 60, never mind 65. But the private sector pensioner does at least get to enjoy a warm, satisfying glow from having to subsidise the Keith Raffans of this world through ever escalating taxation.