A former Scottish Police Authority board member has accused the chair of the watchdog of not being fit to remain in post after claiming he bullied her.

Moi Ali, who quit the SPA after objecting to the body’s secrecy proposals, also told MSPs yesterday that Andrew Flanagan would not have treated a man in the same way.

She also alleged that the previous SPA chair, Vic Emery, had described her as a “one-trick diversity pony” and said that the document which contained the phrase had been shredded.

In December, the SPA backed a new governance framework which critics believed rolled backed on basic transparency.

The watchdog moved to private committee meetings and agreed to only publish board papers on the day of a meeting.

Ms Ali, a founding board member, objected to the proposals in public session and asked for her dissent to be formally noted.

Mr Flanagan then sent Ms Ali a private letter expressing his “dismay” at her criticism and suggested it would not be fair for her to continue attending committee meetings. Ms Ali quit within weeks.

At a meeting of Holyrood’s Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny committee yesterday, Ali was asked by Labour MSP Monica Lennon if Mr Flanagan's letter amounted to bullying:

She replied: “Yes, I believe that it did. A good leader, if he had any concerns, would surely speak to an individual. I think all of us would do that. To write a letter of that nature, it’s hard to find another word to what it amounts to.”

She added later: "Did I feel bullied? Yes."

Asked if she believed Mr Flanagan would have sent the same letter to a man, Ms Ali said: “No, I don’t think he would.”

Asked if Mr Flanagan was “fit to continue” as SPA chair, she said: “I’m afraid I don’t. He’s actually not fit to continue on any public board, as he clearly doesn’t observe public sector values.”

Ms Ali said her departure had been a "horrendous experience” and a “very difficult thing to live through”.

She also claimed her exit had been "straightforward punishment."

In a statement yesterday, Mr Flanagan said: "I reject the suggestion that I in any way bullied Moi Ali. Moi's reasons for resigning are well documented and publicly available and make no reference to this assertion."

In another passage of evidence, Ms Ali turned to claims about Mr Emery, who was Mr Flanagan’s predecessor.

She told MSPs: “I had asked for information where the [former] chair had said that I was a one-trick diversity pony.”

She added: “He said, ‘it isn’t me saying that, it is HMICS’. I said that I didn’t believe that that was the case, and I didn’t believe HMICS would use that terminology. I wanted to see the information, and he said that I couldn’t have it, so I made a formal request.”

Ms Ali then said she was informed by the SPA that the document had been “securely disposed of”.

Asked by SNP MSP Alex Neil who was the author of the “one trick” statement was, she said: “The previous chair.”

At the stormy session, three serving SPA board members appeared to fault Mr Flanagan for not sharing a letter sent by Derek Penman, the HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, which criticised the governance framework proposals.

George Graham said: “I would have expected that letter to have been circulated to us.”

His colleague, David Hume, said: “I think the letter should have been passed on.”

The third SPA board member, Iain Whyte, said: “I would have expected it to be circulated.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP commented:

“The Committee heard examples of conduct that is utterly acceptable. The SPA has been disordered, secretive and unaccountable from day one. That can be traced directly back to the shoddy legislation the SNP forced through Parliament when they were hell-bent on centralising the police.”