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Scotsman
a day ago
- Politics
- Scotsman
Swinney says Presiding Officer ‘always acts impartially' after Ross ejected
First Minister defends Alison Johnstone against accusations of bias following row in Holyrood chamber Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... John Swinney has backed Holyrood's Presiding Officer after the Scottish Conservatives accused her of bias for kicking their former leader Douglas Ross out of the debating chamber. Mr Swinney said she 'always acts impartially' and upholds the rules of the Scottish Parliament. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad During a fiery session of First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone took the rare move of ordering Mr Ross to leave the chamber and barring him for the rest of the day. Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone and Tory MSP Douglas Ross | Getty She said Mr Ross had 'persistently refused' to abide by Holyrood's standing orders, which make clear MSPs should treat each other courteously. Her intervention came as Tory MSPs heckled the First Minister as he clashed with Russell Findlay over the Scottish Government's net zero policies. But the decision to expel Mr Ross angered his Tory colleagues, who said Ms Johnstone was regularly treating them unfairly. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Scottish Conservatives said they would be 'seeking discussions to reiterate that the Presiding Officer should not show blatant bias'. Ms Johnstone was elected as a Green MSP, but Holyrood's Presiding Officer is expected to be neutral and incumbents give up their party affiliation when taking on the role. The First Minister was asked about the Conservatives' claims as he visited a distillery near Glasgow on Friday. Impartial 'on all occasions' Mr Swinney said: 'The Presiding Officer has got to make very difficult decisions about the conduct of parliamentary business, and it's important that at all times – and this is what the presiding presiding officer does at all times – is to reflect the rules and the Standing Orders of parliament. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I'm absolutely certain that the Presiding Officer exercises that judgement impartially on all occasions.' Pressed on whether Ms Johnstone is biased in her role, Mr Swinney said: 'The Presiding Officer acts impartially on all occasions, and there is absolutely nothing that anybody could suggest otherwise. 'The Presiding Officer has a difficult job to do to make sure that Parliament operates to the rules that parliament itself has directed. 'And I think it's very clear from the conduct of the Presiding Officer on all occasions that she always acts impartially.'
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scotsman
Why Douglas Ross can be Scotland's answer to 'Beast of Bolsover'
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The spat between Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone and former Conservative leader Douglas Ross after she threw him out of the debating chamber for heckling John Swinney raises some weighty issues. After all, the Scottish Conservatives have accused Johnstone of showing 'a consistent pattern to favour certain parties at the expense of others' and insisted 'the Presiding Officer should not show blatant bias'. All very serious. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Dennis Skinner is known for his robust attitude towards political debate (Picture: Oli Scarff) | Getty Images However, it was surely just a little bit funny to see Ross sent for an early bath for alleged discourtesy given his work as a football referee. Ross argued he should have been given a warning, ie a yellow card, rather than a straight red. One wonders how many footballers have made the same complaint to him. Ross cuts a rather unlikely figure as the Scottish Parliament's answer to former Labour MP Dennis Skinner, aka the 'Beast of Bolsover', but perhaps that's just what the rather namby-pamby 'debates' at Holyrood need.
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scotsman
Did Douglas Ross deserve his red card from the Holyrood chamber?
The former Scottish Tory leader, a referee in his spare time, was sent off with no recourse to VAR Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It had been coming for weeks. Former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has had repeated run-ins with Holyrood's Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone, who has warned him on several occasions about his conduct in the chamber. On Thursday, things came to a head. Mr Ross - a football referee in his spare time - was shown the red card and kicked out of First Minister's Questions after heckling John Swinney during an exchange about net zero. He was also banned from the chamber for the rest of the day. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There was no yellow and no recourse to VAR. But was it deserved? Former Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross, showing a red card | Johnston Press Mr Ross says no. He argues his treatment is 'unprecedented' and has accused the Presiding Officer of being biased against Conservative MSPs and unionist politicians. He said the issue under discussion at the time - the impact on farming of the SNP's 2045 net zero target - is close to his heart as an MSP for the Highlands and Islands, and he was frustrated by the failure of Mr Swinney to address the point. 'For a member to be expelled from the chamber with no warning at all, I think may be unprecedented,' Mr Ross told journalists. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Presiding Officer could point to her many previous warnings, such as on May 21, May 8, April 22 and April 3. But Mr Ross effectively argues infractions on days gone by don't count - or if they do, then other serial hecklers, including SNP frontbenchers, should be treated just as harshly. He added: 'You've got to look at Alison Johnstone formerly being a Green Party member, saying that she would leave her party allegiances at the door, but taking very different approaches to nationalist politicians who step out of line, compared to unionist politicians who step out of line.' Many in Holyrood will reject the suggestion that Ms Johnstone, who was elected a Green MSP, is in any way biased against unionists or Tory politicians. But something else Mr Ross said deserves consideration, even by his opponents. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Holyrood is 'not a library', he told journalists. The environment is already 'far too sterile'. And certainly, compared to Westminster, proceedings can be pretty tame.
Daily Record
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Record
Holyrood Presiding Officer 'blatantly biased' against Unionist politicians, claim Tories
Alison Johnstone showed the red card to former SFA match official Douglas Ross during FMQs today. The Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament has been branded "blatantly biased" against Unionist politicians after she booted Douglas Ross out from FMQs today. The former Scottish Conservatives leader was ordered to leave Holyrood's debating chamber after he heckled John Swinney when the First Minister was responding to a question. Johnstone told the Tory: 'I would ask you to leave this chamber and you are excluded for the rest of the day.' Her actions resulted in the Scottish Tories accusing the Presiding Officer of 'blatant bias' against them. A party spokesperson said: 'The Presiding Officer has shown a consistent pattern to favour certain parties at the expense of others. 'We will be seeking discussions to reiterate that the Presiding Officer should not show blatant bias.' Ross said Johnstone should now 'seriously consider her neutral role'. He told reporters he represented many farmers who were left frustrated by the First Minister ducking questions. 'This is an issue that is extremely important to those individuals who are in that sector and their families and their communities, therefore they deserve to hear those answers,' he said. 'But for a member to be expelled from the chamber with no warning at all, I think may be unprecedented.' He added: "There have been concerns outwith this building about how [Johnstone] treats Conservative MSPs compared to government ministers, Green MSPs for example,' he said. 'And since this happened at lunch time, I've had senior members from other parties saying that Alison Johnstone risks losing support within the chamber for her actions.' The former Tory leader said Holyrood was 'not a library'. He continued: "There is going to be some discussion from the benches around the respective party spokespeople. That is what people watch politics for. "Now, sometimes to goes beyond the pale and action has to be taken, but I don't recall ever seeing a presiding officer take no action to try to minimise that behaviour or to warn any members before excluding them. "She reached straight for that option today, which for me raises serious concerns about it. And the speed at which she did it made me almost think it was premeditated. It didn't matter what I did today, I wonder if she was just going to go straight for that.' Ross argued the environment in the Holyrood chamber is already 'far too sterile' and Ms Johnstone had been having a 'controlling effect' on the chamber in recent weeks and months. 'You've got to look at Alison Johnstone formerly being a Green Party member, saying that she would leave her party allegiances at the door, but taking very different approaches to nationalist politicians who step out of line, compared to unionist politicians who step out of line,' he said. A Scottish Parliament spokesman said: "The Presiding Officer has warned Mr Ross on repeated occasions recently about his behaviour in the Chamber. "Due to his persistent refusal to respect the rules of Parliament, the Member was asked to leave the Chamber. This suspension is for the remainder of the day."
Daily Record
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Record
Douglas Ross booted out of Scottish Parliament for heckling John Swinney during FMQs
The former Scottish Conservatives leader was asked to leave by Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone. Douglas Ross was booted out of the Scottish Parliament debating chamber today for heckling John Swinney during First Minister's Questions. The former leader of the Scots Tories was asked to leave by Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone after he was heard repeatedly disagreeing while the First Minister was speaking. Under parliament rules, MSPs are expected not to interrupt proceedings when they are sitting down. Swinney was in the process of answering a question from Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay when Johnstone interjected. "Mr Ross, you have persistently refused abide by our Standing Orders, and I would ask you to leave this Chamber, and you are excluded for the rest of the day," the Presiding Officer said. It came after Swinney was repeatedly pressed by Findlay over the Scottish Government's climate change targets. The Scottish Conservatives leader told MSPs: "The Climate Change Committee's new report sets out what this Government needs to do to reach its 2045 Net Zero target. "They would have to reduce oil and gas production by 91 per cent, which would devastate the industry and our economy. "They would have to ask homeowners to meet stringent and expensive new energy standards. They would have to get more than half of the population to drive electric cars or vans by 2035. "This report lays bare the crippling costs to hardworking families and businesses. Does John Swinney think the committee's proposals are realistic?" We're also on Facebook - your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Daily Record, Sunday Mail and Record Online Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you.
