Pressure grows on shamed MSP
DISGRACED former SNP minister Mark Mcdonald has confirmed his intention to return to Holyrood this week despite growing calls for him to resign as an MSP.
SNP MSP James Dornan will make an official complaint to parliamentary authorities today to try to prevent Mr Mcdonald’s return, claiming a member of his staff was so distressed by his behaviour that she ended up in hospital.
Mr Mcdonald resigned from the SNP when it became clear he was no longer welcome in the party, but Nicola Sturgeon has urged him to go further and quit Parliament to give his constituents the opportunity to elect a new MSP.
The Aberdeen Donside MSP has apologised for sending inappropriate texts to a woman in a “ham-fisted attempt at being friendly” but insists he is not a sex pest. The woman said his behaviour went beyond a few improper texts and that his decision to continue as an MSP is “a blatant affront to that apology”.
Lawyer Aamer Anwar, who is representing Mr Mcdonald’s accusers, called the politician’s behaviour “grotesque”.
Mr Mcdonald insists he was never physically abusive but one woman reportedly told investigators he squeezed her bottom, despite being warned off, and when dancing he had appeared to stumble and squeezed her chest, according to a summary of the investigation revealed in the Sunday Times.
Mr Dornan told the Sunday Mail: “I saw my member of staff end up in hospital and off work for six months because of the pressure of having to deal with his behaviour and the aftermath. If he is such a reformed character like he now claims to be, then he would do the decent thing and consider his position.
“He should certainly never set foot in the Scottish Parliament again and I will be making an official complaint on Monday to the parliamentary authorities to ask for his removal from the Parliament to be considered.”
The woman, who spoke anonymously, said: “His behaviour was beyond the pale and had a devastating impact. This was more than a few improper texts but a catalogue of attempts to abuse his position of power.
“Mr Mcdonald claims to be sorry but I see his attempt to return to their place of work as a blatant affront to that apology.”
Mr Anwar told the Sunday Mail: “His self-denial and desperate media spin is grotesque… if there was a scrap of decency left in this man, then he would have recognised he has been exposed and given up being an MSP, as he did his minister’s post.”
The Sunday Times published a series of allegations from witnesses that Mr Mcdonald’s behaviour was “creepy” and amounted to “grooming”. He reportedly made unsolicited and inappropriate comments and made unwanted attempts at physical contact.
He reportedly told an intern in a Facebook message: “You just had the misfortune to end up with an amoral a******* of an MSP who can’t maintain a professional boundary with an intern who he finds incredibly interesting and attractive.”
Holyrood magazine asked Mr Mcdonald whether anyone should consider him a sex pest. “I would hope not,” he replied. “I want to come back and demonstrate… that this wasn’t all that I was.”
His behaviour was beyond the pale and had a devastating impact