THE SNP is facing questions about its handling of former minister Mark McDonald as part of a Holyrood inquiry into sexual misconduct.
Chief whip Bill Kidd is due to give evidence on his party’s approach to the problem at parliament’s standards committee today.
Susan Ruddick, the SNP’s corporate development manager, will appear alongside him.
The committee is examining how Holyrood responds to sexual misconduct and harassment in light of a wave of cases coming to light in politics and other workplaces.
READ MORE: MSPs unhappy as Lord Advocate ducks Brexit Bill "hypotheticals"
The SNP has been criticised for failing to come to a decision on Mr McDonald’s future in the party.
The Aberdeen Donside MSP quit as the minister for childcare and early years on November 4 after admitting to “inappropriate” conduct, but downplayed its seriousness.
A week later he admitted he had caused a woman “considerable distress and upset”.
A second complaint then surfaced, and the SNP suspended him on November 16.
However the party is still investigating his conduct with the help of a firm of private investigators.
READ MORE: Ian Blackford accuses Westminster of behaving like "Big Brother" on Brexit Bill
It is understood a report went to SNP HQ in recent days, and is likely to be discussed by the party’s ruling national executive committee on Saturday.
However it is expected to be several weeks before the process concludes, as it will also involve the SNP’s discipline committee and an appeal stage.
Mr Kidd will appear alongside his counterparts from the four other Holyrood parties.
An SNP insider said there was an expectation the McDonald case would come up.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel