Sturgeon’s inconsistent treatment of MSPS over standards seems rather bizarre

Am I alone in feeling a little bit sorry for former SNP minister Mark Mcdonald? There may be more to this than meets the eye but it seems he has been condemned on the basis of one – certainly inappropriate – text. Other allegations have been made and hinted at but evidence seems to be in short supply. Yet he has been not only hounded out of his ministerial post, he is facing the loss of his livelihood. Nicola Sturgeon herself has urged him to resign his post. If there are more skeletons in the cupboard than have been made public then fair enough, but the facts we know about make his treatment seem a little harsh.

Moreover, the case of Mr Mcdonald makes it very difficult to understand the completely different treatment of Gillian Martin. Nicola Sturgeon admits she knew about some of the public comments made by Ms Martin. Yet not only did she refrain from urginghertoresign,shepromoted her to the post of further education minister! A single one of her disparaging remarks about transgender people or people in wheelchairs should have been enough to raise the eyebrows of a competent and caring administration. Yet there is a whole litany of them. Which ones was Ms Sturgeon aware of that she was willing to overlook? Which ones has she now been told about which have tipped the balance?

She claims the remarks “do not reflect the views of the person I know in Gillian Martin”. I would have thought anyone reading Ms Martin’s statements would get a very clear picture of the person she is. And it is certainly not one who is fit to be an MSP, far less a government minister.

If a consistent approach is to be followed then we await Ms Martin’s expulsion from the SNP and Ms Sturgeon’s call for her resignation from her post as MSP.

COLIN HAMILTON

Braid Hills Avenue, Edinburgh

For opposition politicians to block the appointment of a very capable junior minister when, unlike Gillian Martin, several of their elected representatives have made real racist and homophobic remarks in the last few months yet remain firmly in their posts, is sheer hypocrisy and petty gamesmanship.

It always pays to read the original source in context rather than relying on selective quotes. Having read the 11-year-old blogs by Gillian Martin it is clear that she was satirising university management and political correctness inoneanddescribingworking class student exploitation in the other.

The “shocking remarks” referred to by Jackson Carlaw in parliament was a record of howblackwaitersinneworleans ranked various types of tippers. Does Mr Carlaw think he is a suitable deputy leader following his racist jokes as reported by The Scotsman on 12 April 2005? Society evolves and it is very easy to make moral judgements on past

behaviour taken out of context.

MARY THOMAS

Watson Crescent, Edinburgh

The First Minister says Ms Martin’s blogs do not reflect the person she knows but how, at any point in her career, she could hold such deeply offensive views is a matter of great concern. Is Ms Martin fit to be an MSP, never mind a minister? And given Ms Sturgeon’s lack of judgement in even consideringmsmartinforgovernment office, is she fit to remain as First Minister?

KW MCKAY

Easter Duthil, Carrbridge