BOTH Holyrood’s deputy presiding officers have refused to support a ban on a former SNP colleague who sexually harassed a female worker at the parliament.

Linda Fabiani and Christine Grahame were among six SNP MSPs who abstained on a vote to expel Mark McDonald for a month for sending a “degrading” message on social media.

Their decision was in spite of Holyrood claiming it is cracking down on sexual misconduct.

Neither disputed Mr McDonald’s conduct or the need for a temporary ban, but thought other aspects of his punishment were too severe.

Holyrood’s standards committee had recommended expelling Mr McDonald, a former SNP childcare minister who now sits as the Independent MSP for Aberdeen Donside.

An official investigation found he had created “an intimidating, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment” for his victim, sending a message in 2016 which used the word “fingered” and “therefore constituted sexual harassment”.

The committee recommended he be excluded from all parliamentary business and the Holyrood estate without pay for a month, and not represent the parliament in any ceremonial capacity for the rest of the session, which ends in 2021.

Then standards convener Clare Haughey said the sanction was intended to send a “clear signal” about the seriousness of Mr McDonald’s behaviour.

She said the Zero Tolerance statement agreed by the Holyrood authorities made it clear sexual harassment did “not belong in the parliament”.

However Ms Fabiani and Ms Grahame, senior members of the parliamentary leadership, refused to support the ban despite being free to use their vote as they saw fit.

Also abstaining were Midlothian MSP Colin Beattie, Kilmarnock MSP Willie Coffey, Cunninghame North MSP Kenny Gibson, and Glasgow Shettleston MSP John Mason.

The motion to expel Mr McDonald from September 3 to October 2 inclusive passed 101 to zero with six abstentions and 22 MSPs absent from the chamber.

Ms Grahame said Mr McDonald’s “salacious” message had been “awful” and she agreed with the findings against him, and the sanction of a month’s ban.

However she said it was “too much” to stop him representing Holyrood for three years.

She denied her abstention meant Holyrood was sending a mixed message on harassment.

She said: “I’ve absolutely agreed with the month’s ban, and I’ve agreed with the loss of his salary and the fact that he can’t represent his constituents for that period.

“But the second part…I  thought three years was to much. I partly agreed, partly disagreed, therefore I abstained.”

Ms Fabiani said she also disagreed with the three-year restriction on Mr McDonald representing Holyrood, and said her abstention reflected the neutral position she needed to adopt towards all MSPs.

She said: “He’s an elected member and whereas I abhor what he did, he has to be treated equally for the duration of the parliament. I found the second part [of the sanction] difficult, given the neutrality I have to have as part of the Presiding Officer’s team."

Asked if she was sending a mixed message, she said: “Absolutely not.”

Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie called the abstentions “very strange behaviour”.

He said: “The MSPs who deliberately came to the chamber to make the point that they did not approve of the proposal to suspend Mark Mcdonald for a month need to explain clearly why they believe that.

“If they know something that everybody else doesn’t know they should speak now. The question for Mark McDonald is how much longer he is going to continue as the MSP for Aberdeen Donside now parliament has sent a very clear message about his behaviour."

A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: “Mark McDonald should have a shred of decency and stand down as an MSP - and those SNP members that decided to abstain on his suspension should explain why they think his behaviour did not warrant any sanction.”

Mr McDonald, 38, stood down as the minister for childcare in November after his sexual message was shown to SNP HQ in wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations.

At the time, he blamed a misfiring attempt at humour.

However he later apologised for causing the woman - who works for SNP MSP James Dornan - considerable upset and distress.

He quit the SNP on the eve of an internal party investigation condemning his conduct.

Mr Dornan then complained to the standards committee about Mr McDonald’s continued presence at Holyrood, claiming his employee had been made ill by his unwanted attention.

The Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life subsequently investigated, and found Mr McDonald had broken the code of conduct for MSPs with the sexual message, and by borrowing almost £500 from his own employee and taking three weeks to repay it.

Nicola Sturgeon has previously called on Mr McDonald to resign as an MSP.

By staying at Holyrood, he stands to collect around £200,000 in salary before 2021.

An SNP spokesperson said: “The SNP's position is perfectly clear from the votes of the majority of the group and the fact that he is no longer an SNP MSP.”

The parliament declined to comment.