Mackay quits in disgrace on Budget day over texts to schoolboy
● Former minister branded ‘predatory’ after sending 270 messages to teenager
Scottish politics was rocked yesterday as finance minister Derek Mackay was forced to resign from government and was suspended by the SNP after revelations he had bombarded a schoolboy with inappropriate text messages.
Mr Mackay quit just hours before he was due to deliver the Scottish Budget, throwing the government into chaos and compelling a junior minister to replace him at the last minute.
It was revealed yesterday that Mr Mackay, who had been tipped as a likely successor to Nicola Sturgeon, had been sending messages to a 16-year-old boy he had contacted “out of the blue” on the social media photography site Instagram, and then persisted over a six-month period.
In the messages, the 42-year-old father-of-two invited the rugby-mad boy to a match, for dinner and to a parliamentary reception celebrating Scottish rugby.
He did not stop messaging when he was informed of the boy’s age and at one point wanted to be assured the teenager was not showing his texts to anyone else, saying “our chats are between us”.
The boy, who appeared to ignore many of Mr Mackay’s attempts to engage in conversation, did not meet the politician at any time. He is believed to have shown his mother the messages after growing concerned when Mr Mackay called him “cute”.
The boy is reported to have said: “When he asked about my haircut and said I was cute, I was grossed out. If it had been a joke or something that would have been different, but this seemed serious. That’s when I decided to tell my mum. It was too weird for me and not right.”
The teenager’s mother said she was furious about the messages and called for Mr Mackay to be sacked. “A man like that is not supposed to say these sorts of things to a boy,” she said.
However, rather than being sacked, Mr Mackay quit and in his letter of resignation said: “I take full responsibility for my actions. I have behaved foolishly and I am truly sorry. I apologise unreservedly to the individual involved and his family. I spoke last night with the First Minister and tendered my resignation with immediate effect. Serving in government has
been a huge privilege and I am sorry to have let colleagues and supporters down.”
Formally accepting his resignation, Ms Sturgeon said: “Derek has taken full responsibility for his actions and apologises unreservedly for them to the individual involved and to those he has let down. He has submitted his resignation as a government minister, which I have accepted.
“Derek has made a significant contribution to government. However, he recognises that his behaviour has failed to meet the standards required.”
But yesterday at First Minister’s Questions, she came under pressure from opposition leaders who said Mr Mackay must also stand down as an MSP, comparing his behaviour to “online grooming” – as did SNP MP Joanna Cherry, who tweeted: “Grooming behaviour is totally unacceptable and must be condemned without fear or favour.”
However, Ms Sturgeon said decisions over Mr Mackay’s future as an MSP were for him and she was sure he would be “reflecting” on it. In an emergency statement in Holyrood, she said his “conduct fell well short of what’s expected as a minister” and that she had suspended him from the party and its parliamentary group, and an internal investigation would be launched.
She said: “Derek Mackay has apologised unreservedly for his conduct and recognises, as I do, that it was unacceptable and falls seriously below the standards required by a minister. I can also advise that he has this morning been suspended from both the SNP and our parliamentary group pending further investigation.”
She also confirmed that the government would continue with the Budget, which Mr Mackay was scheduled to deliver, with public finance minister Kate Forbes taking his place.
Scottish Tory interim leader Jackson Carlaw asked whether the First Minister knew of any other similar behaviour by Mr Mackay and if the government was supporting the boy involved.
Ms Sturgeon said “I am not aware of any further allegations of conduct of a similar nature, but I was not aware of this until last night.
“I want to make clear, and I hope members will accept this, I do not condone in any way, shape or form conduct of this nature. We need to say that when it is our opponents or people in our own side, and we have to be consistent.”
She added: “I’m not aware of the identity [of the boy involved] or the contact details of the family. However, if they want to speak to me I would be happy to do that.”
Ms Sturgeon said she would “not minimise in any way the seriousness of this”, but that it was “reasonable and important to let that investigation take place without me preempting that outcome”.
“All of us have to be prepared to apply high standards when these allegations are made, and make sure action we demand of our opponents is action we would take ourselves,” she said. “Clearly there are issues that Derek Mackay has to reflect on. But Derek Mackay remaining in government was simply not an option. No matter how upset and shocked all of us are in these situations, there’s a need for due process. I believe it’s right and proper for that to happen.”
In the parliamentary chamber, Mr Carlaw read out the NSPCC definition of child grooming. It states: “Grooming is when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.
“It is when someone builds a relationship of trust with a young person so they can manipulate and exploit them. Young people can be groomed online ... and may not understand they’ve been groomed.”
He asked whether the reputation of the Parliament “can be maintained with the full confidence of the public if Mr Mackay remains a member?”
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “Derek Mackay this morning described his own behaviour as foolish.
“But his actions are beyond foolish. They are an abuse of power. They’re nothing short of predatory. This is serious.
“While his suspension from the SNP is welcome, he should go as a member of this Parliament.”
Ms Sturgeon responded: “I am in no way minimising the seriousness of this, I am not deferring to an investigation, action has been taken already and it should be obvious to everyone how serious I and my government are treating this matter. Where others have to consider future action, there’s a process to go through.”
Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie also raised Mr Mackay’s resignation and said: “These are troubling and alarming events.
“Derek Mackay should step down as an MSP. We must support the young person and his family, who have been targeted by a person in a position of power.
“It’s important that we understand what went on, what action has been taken so far and what action will be taken now by Parliament, government and the SNP.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Alison Johnstone branded Mr Mackay’s behaviour “utterly unacceptable.” She said: “His persistent and unwanted approaches represent an abuse of power, and the impact on the family cannot be overstated.”
“Derek Mackay’s actions are an abuse of power. They’re nothing short of predatory. This is serious. He should go as a member of this parliament.”
RICHARD LEONARD
Scottish Labour leader
Assuming everything is as it appears, there is no question that Derek Mackay must resign as an MSP.
Revelations published by the Sun newspaper that Mackay, who has quit as Finance Secretary and been suspended by the SNP, repeatedly messaged a 16-year-old boy on social media were described as “nothing short of predatory” by Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, while the Scottish Conservatives’ interim leader Jackson Carlaw suggested the messages, which described the teenager as “really cute” and invited him to a rugby match, could “constitute the grooming of a young individual”.
Police Scotland have also appealed for anyone with information about what took place to come forward, despite not yet receiving a formal “complaint of criminality”.
Mackay described his actions as “foolish” but, as Leonard pointed out, this underplays just how serious his actions were, even if they fall short of a crime. And, just to be clear, it would be equally as serious if the teenager in question had been a girl.
It is likely there is cross-party agreement that the 42-year-old Mackay should now stand down as MSP for Renfrewshire North and
West. However, Nicola Sturgeon was right when she said that “no matter how upset and shocked all of us are in these situations, there’s a need for due process”.
Despite the scale of the justified outrage, the full facts need to be established in a calm and considered way. After all, there may be questions for others to answer.
It has long been known that those in positions of power will sometimes abuse it, but the Metoo movement should have spelt out the full consequences to anyone failing to grasp them.
Once such conduct might have been brushed under the carpet, but society has changed, considerably and for the better, in refusing to tolerate it.
MSPS are the democratically elected leaders of this country and their actions must be beyond reproach. It is, or at least should be, part of their job to send a message to those in positions of power in wider society about what is and is not acceptable behaviour.
And an MSP, let alone a Cabinet minister, sending scores of unsolicited messages of the type described to a 16-year-old is, in the words of the First Minister, “unacceptable”. This is not a party political issue, but a moral one.