A SCOTTISH Government minister resigned after sending a suggestive text message to a woman which included a reference to a sex act, it has emerged.
Mark McDonald stepped down as Scotland’s children’s minister on Saturday over his past behaviour – but SNP bosses have refused to detail the claims made against him.
Now the woman who made the complaint has insisted “people have to change”.
She told the Press and Journal newspaper: “The bottom line in this is there’s no point in people coming forward if people don’t change.
“People have to change in the future. Apologies are all well and good but if it doesn’t change how people act.
“That’s why people have come forward. People don’t want this. I don’t want it.”
It comes as Nicola Sturgeon faced renewed questions after she backed Mr McDonald continuing as an MSP for Aberdeen Donside.
Opponents said the SNP's lack of transparency over the nature of the allegations sent "an awful message".
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “The longer this saga drags on, the more difficult the public will find it to accept Nicola Sturgeon’s knee-jerk explanation.
“Understandably, they wonder how it can be fine for him to continue as an MSP, but not fine for him to be a junior government minister.”
A Labour source said Mr McDonald's resignation had “created more questions than answers - namely what conduct he believes is unacceptable for a junior minister but not for an MSP”.
They added: “Nicola Sturgeon doesn't seem to realise that being evasive on this issue is sending an awful message to the victims of abuse and harassment.
“This is not a level of transparency that many in the SNP will feel comfortable with.”
Ms Sturgeon today officially appointed Highlands and Islands MSP Maree Todd as Mr McDonald's replacement, insisting she had a “well deserved reputation for diligence and hard work”.
She said: “The government has few greater long-term responsibilities than to ensure that all of our young people get the best possible start in life.
“The job that Maree is taking on is one of the most important in government.”
The First Minister previously told Holyrood Mr McDonald had resigned over behaviour “some others may well have thought was not serious enough to resign”.
She added: "He's a good MSP and he will continue to be so."
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