Mcdonald urged to resign after month ban
Shamed MSP Mark Mcdonald must serve a one-month ban from Holyrood for sexual harassment and will have his salary docked during the suspension.
The penalty has sparked fresh calls for the EX-SNP member to resign.
Sleaze row MSP Mark Mcdonald is facing fresh calls to quit after being hit with a onemonth ban from Holyrood for sexual harassment and disrespectful behaviour towards female staff.
The former Nationalist MSP will also have his salary docked for the duration of his suspension after the sanctions were backed by Holyrood’s standards committee yesterday in order to send out a “clear signal” about inappropriate behaviour. The measures must be ratified in a vote of all MSPS.
The action is being taken following a probe into Mr Mcdonald’s conduct by Bill Thomson, the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life for investigation, after a complaint from SNP MSP James Dornan.
Standards committee convenor Clare Haughey said: “The committee is unanimous in the decisions reached on the complaint. Firstly, it agrees with both the findings in fact and the conclusion of the Commissioner that Mark Mcdonald failed to treat one witness with respect and that his conduct towards her involved sexual harassment, and that he also failed to treat a second witness with respect in relation to a financial matter.
“The committee agrees with the Commissioner’s finding that both behaviours were in breach of the code of conduct for MSPS.” Ms Haughey added the breaches “justify the imposition of sanctions” on Mr Mcdonald.
“These sanctions should send a clear signal about the seriousness of Mark Mcdonald’s conduct,” she said.
The finding of sexual harassment concerns a social media message that Mr Mcdonald sent to a female member of staff who worked for him at the parliament and contained a sexual innuendo. He was found guilty of disrespectful behaviour towards her, both in breach of the MSPS’ code of conduct.
Mr Mcdonald was also found guilty of breaching the code by asking another female staff member to pay a £476 deposit on a flat, which she agreed to do. He took over three weeks to reimburse her. Mr Mcdonald has apologised for his behaviour, but rejected the Commissioner’s finding the social media message constituted sexual harassment.
The month-long suspension cannot happen while Holyrood is in recess. With MSPS posed to stop for their twomonth summer break in six days, it means the suspension will have to be served later in the year.
Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “The people of Aberdeen Donside have already endured four months with an absent MSP after his self-imposed exile. This unprecedented sanction means they will go unrepresented in parliament once more.
“That’s simply not good enough. Mark Mcdonald ought to reflect on his position and resign.”
Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said: “Mark Mcdonald’s behaviour has been well below that expected of anyone, let alone an MSP. Anyone with an ounce of decency in his position would do the right thing and immediately resign as an MSP.”
Mr Mcdonald has already quit the SNP and his former role as Scottish Government’s Children’s minister over the claims. He sits as an independent MSP at Holyrood.