11 hours ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Boffin denies being corrupt, but admits being incompetent
Just hours before his debate on tackling the menace of wayward seabirds, Mr Ross hauled Professor Iain Gillespie, former principal of the University of Dundee, in front of the Education Committee for what turned out to be a three-hour kicking.
In all my years watching Holyrood debates, I've never seen a mauling quite like this.
READ MORE:
It's not just that the MSPs on one of Holyrood's most dysfunctional committees were well briefed and at the top of their game, and working well together.
But I cannot remember a witness more out of their depth and underprepared than Prof Gillespie.
I don't think we can rule out the possibility that he was in the Parliament for a tour and just wandered into Committee Room 4 by accident.
You have to wonder why he put himself through that. Sure, under Section 23 of the Scotland Act, the Scottish Parliament has the power to require any person to attend a committee to give evidence, but compelling someone to come along is a massive pain in the hoop.
He could have said no. He should have said no. It would have made him look like he had something to hide, yes, but I'm not sure his evidence will have convinced anyone otherwise.
Here's another top tip if you're ever hauled in front of a Holyrood committee — and it applies in other circumstances too — if someone asks you if you are corrupt or incompetent, you can say you're neither.
You do not have to choose one or the other.
And if you are going to choose one of the two, don't, as Prof Gillespie did, take a second or two to think about it.
What did we learn from the startling session? That Prof Gillespie's plea for a knighthood was a joke, and that despite going on 11 foreign trips in two years, flying first class, and staying in five-star hotels at the university's expense, he is not a 'good time Charlie'.
And that nothing should be read into the fact that when he quit he left his keys and staff card on a book called The Spy and the Traitor.
Sure.
He was asked a number of times if he thought he should pay back the £150,000 golden goodbye.
It was, he said, not in his 'thought process' to give back the cash, but that he would 'reflect' on it.
It was a brutal session. If this is what Douglas Ross is like with incompetent academics, just imagine what he'll be like if a herring gull ends up in charge of the new Qualifications Scotland body.
