The Herald

Sturgeon told to clear up mystery over ‘missing’ MSP in new claim

- ALISTAIR GRANT POLITICAL CORRESPOND­ENT

CRITICS have demanded clarity as it emerged former children’s minister Mark Mcdonald is being investigat­ed over claims a woman woke up in his hotel bed with no memory of how she got there.

The MSP, who has now been missing from the Scottish Parliament for 100 days despite continuing to draw a salary, is already suspended over two separate complaints relating to inappropri­ate text messages.

It comes as police confirmed they had received a report about inappropri­ate conduct by a senior aide to SNP Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing. Norman Will, Mr Ewing’s parliament­ary “head of office”, has been suspended since December. It is understood Mr Ewing has given police a statement on the issue.

SNP bosses have reportedly brought in private investigat­ors to look into the latest allegation­s against Mr Mcdonald, before deciding whether to take further action.

Mr Mcdonald, a married father of two, stepped down as a minister last November amid claims he had sent inappropri­ate messages to women.

He was later suspended by the SNP and has not been seen at the Parliament for three months, despite picking up a £61,778 salary as the MSP for Aberdeen Donside.

Scottish Conservati­ve deputy chief whip Alexander Burnett MSP said the situation regarding Mr Mcdonald was “getting murkier and murkier”.

He added: “It’s been months since this sorry saga began and yet we still have no clarity from the SNP as to what has gone on. The allegation­s against him are mounting and it’s about time Nicola Sturgeon sorted this situation out.

“With it now being over 100 days since he was last seen at Holyrood, the people of Aberdeen Donside need someone who is going to represent them in Parliament.”

Scottish Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said “serious questions” needed to be asked about the SNP’S handling of the situation.

The latest complaint, which emerged in the Sunday Post newspaper, comes after a woman reportedly woke up in Mr Mcdonald’s hotel room after a night out, with no idea how she got there. The MSP is understood to have denied any wrongdoing,and there is no suggestion of any criminal activity.

An SNP spokesman said: “An independen­t investigat­ion remains ongoing.”

Mr Mcdonald’s SNP colleagues are said to be frustrated at being “left in the dark” by the party hierarchy over his absence from Holyrood.

When he stepped down, Mr Mcdonald said some of his actions had been “considered to be inappropri­ate”.

He added that “where I have believed myself to have been merely humorous or attempting to be friendly, my behaviour might have made others uncomforta­ble or led them to question my intentions.”

His resignatio­n letter said he hoped he “may be able to serve the Government again in the future”, and the First Minister initially insisted his behaviour was “of a kind that some others may well have thought was not serious enough to resign” over.

However, he later admitted causing “considerab­le distress and upset” and was suspended by the party on November 16 following a second allegation.

Ms Sturgeon recently toughened the code of conduct for Scottish ministers in the wake of the claims.

A new edition of the Scottish Ministeria­l Code includes a specific prohibitio­n on “harassing, bullying or other inappropri­ate behaviour” by ministers for the first time.

The SNP said senior aide Norman Will had been suspended “pending the outcome of an investigat­ion”.

 ??  ?? „ Former children’s minister Mark Mcdonald is being investigat­ed over claims a woman woke up in his hotel bed with no memory of how she got there.
„ Former children’s minister Mark Mcdonald is being investigat­ed over claims a woman woke up in his hotel bed with no memory of how she got there.

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