Harassment warning over parly return
Dornan hits out as shamed Nat insists it is ‘morally justifiable’ to return
SHAMED former minister Mark McDonald will return to Holyrood today.
But his comeback has been greeted with anger from MSPs. and new claims of sexual harassment have been made against him.
HOLYROOD watchdogs have been sent a shocking account of disgraced MSP Mark McDonald’s “harassment and innuendo” – piling on the pressure for him to quit.
The detailed allegations from SNP MSP James Dornan came as McDonald was preparing to return to Holyrood today as an independent.
The former childcare minister quit the SNP last week over claims from three women – having been suspended by the party when the allegations emerged late last year.
A probe into the allegations against him identified “persistent” behaviour including inappropriate and unwanted text messages, unwanted attention and exploiting his position of power.
Now Dornan’s letter, sent to Holyrood standards committee convener Clare Haughey, is likely to spark a probe by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland.
McDonald, a married father of two who represents Aberdeen Donside, last night rejected some of the principal allegations in the letter.
And he insisted it is “morally justifiable” for him to come back as an independent member.
In the letter, Dornan, who represents Glasgow Cathcart, said a female member of his staff was left in “distress” when McDonald was a government minister.
He said he had to “escort” her from a function to avoid McDonald – only to find his former party colleague waiting by the exit.
McDonald, the former children’s minister, is also said to have sent her “highly inappropriate messages” on social media, seen by Dornan.
The claims date back to the end of 2016 but were not taken forward because the woman was “afraid and anxious”, Dornan said yesterday.
The MSP wrote: “I have a member of staff who was a targeted victim of harassment and sexual innuendo at the hands of this member.” The woman was already under “extreme pressure”, he said, which was compounded by McDonald’s behaviour. She was admitted to hospital in July 2017 for stress-related illness, taking six months off work. Dornan continued: “Having Mr McDonald in the same workplace as his victims would be a clear negation of the duty of care that the Parliament has to all its members of staff.” McDonald said in a statement: “I refute any suggestion I was waiting in the parliament for the individual in question after an event. “I have not been advised that my conduct was being linked to the specific health matter described by Mr Dornan either at the point of initial complaint nor at any stage of the investigation.”
In a radio interview yesterday, he brazenly insisted he could justify a return to parliament because “my approach to this has been to own the mistakes that I have made but to demonstrate that I have learned from them and that I am capable of changing as a result.”
On his return today, McDonald will have to stay in a temporary office in the “upper basement” instead of the six-storey MSPs’ block. It’s understood no party wanted him as a neighbour.
Yesterday, opposition parties united to demand full investigation of the new allegations.
Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said: “I appeal to Mark McDonald’s friends and family to advise him to stand down before he causes the victims any more distress or himself any more damage.”
Meanwhile, Holyrood bosses hinted they’d ban reporters from parliament if they go looking for McDonald.
A warning sent out by the media relations team was headed “strictly no access to upper basement area” and warned access terms are part of parliamentary pass accreditation.
Having him near victims would negate our duty of care JAMES DORNAN