The Scotsman

SNP’S treatment of shamed MSP Mark Mcdonald hypocritic­al to say the least

-

The treatment of former Scottish Nationalis­t MSP Mark Mcdonald by his then Holyrood party colleagues tells us more about the Snpled Scottish parliament’s fitness to govern than it does about Mr Mcdonald’s fitness for office.

The Aberdeen MSP was in trouble recently for misconduct towards various women to whom he communicat­ed messages of an inappropri­ate nature. I am not in any way trying to defend Mr Mcdonald or his behaviour, which must have been extremely unpleasant for the women towards whom it was directed, even though it was not of a recognisab­ly criminal nature.

Mr Macdonald admitted his wrongdoing and apologised profusely to the women and wider public for his misconduct. He also asked for forgivenes­s and a chance to redeem himself. Could any of us have asked any differentl­y than Mr Mcdonald, considerin­g that we have all at one time or another been guilty of some form of wrongdoing towards others?

So, how did the Holyrood MSPS reply to their colleague Mr Mcdonald’s plea for forgivenes­s and redemption? Taking their cue from shewho-must-be-obeyed, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, they collective­ly replied “I do not know you” and haughtily turned their backs on him, not wishing to associate or speak with him. As if to emphasise their own moral superiorit­y, they evicted the MSP from his parliament­ary office and relegated him to a broom cupboard in the basement traditiona­lly inhabited by a building’s lower forms of life.

They say a population gets the government it deserves. So what did Scotland do to deserve such a spiteful, holier-than -thou, vindictive and hypocritic­al Snp-led administra­tion? The only alternativ­e way of looking at this situation is for each of us to consider ourselves very fortunate indeed to have such flawless examples of human perfection representi­ng us in the Scottish Parliament, when other countries have to make do as best they can with ordinary fallible human beings.

Surely it can’t be long now until our snow white, holierthan-thou Holyrood MSPS are collective­ly elevated to the hallowed status of sainthood. IAIN M MACDONALD

Miavaig, Isle of Lewis

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom