‘MSPS should be held to account for misconduct’

Holyrood should step out of its “comfort zone” and introduce a system that would allow politicians to be kicked out of parliament if they are found guilty of misconduct such as sexual harassment, MSPS have said.

Labour’s Rhoda Grant and Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie backed changes which they said would properly hold MSPS to account during a debate on the Standards Committee’s report on sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct.

The committee’s report found that a lack of confidence in the Scottish Parliament’s policies and reporting procedures on sexual harassment must be “urgently addressed”.

Its initial recommendations included creating a single policy on sexual harassment for everyone at parliament, having ongoing monitoring to cut sexual harassment rates and increase reporting, and encouraging “positive culture change” through mandatory training and having regular reports on complaint numbers and results.

However, Ms Grant suggested the report did not go far enough. “We need to look at how an MSP can be brought to book for unacceptable behaviour,” she said.