A PROMINENT lawyer who faced calls to stand down from his Scottish Government-appointed post after Twitter abuse at Alex Salmond has apologised.

Mike Dailly, a leading figure in the Labour Party in Glasgow and pro-Union campaigner, described the First Minister as "an a***hole" on Saturday.

He refused calls from the organisation's chairwoman to resign from his £8000-a-year part-time post on the board of the Scottish Housing Regulator, an independent watchdog which reports to the Scottish Government.

But three days after the latest 'Twitter storm', the former Solicitor of the Year issued an apology.

Mr Dailly said he "never actually never meant to be disrespectful to the First Minister" and that he was "trying to show how abusive the debate in Scotland has become, especially in the social media".

He said: "The point I was trying to make (and I accept I failed) was that the political debate in Scotland is nasty and abusive; and we need to raise it; and the tone is set from the top. In the end it was a clumsy attempt to prove a point. It was not my finest moment.

"I have always argued passionately for things I believe in. This time my passion ran away with me." He concludes: "It has reminded me how important it is to stay civil. Perhaps we all need to take a good look at how we conduct ourselves in this debate. Me included. But for my part, I say sorry."

Saturday's tweet sparked a wave of responses, including from his Scottish Labour's chairman Jamie Glackin, who said: "Steady on Mike! We may be disagree with him but he's better than that. As are you!"

Scottish Greens co-convenor Patrick Harvie said: "I'm very far from being a Salmond fan, but Mike, you can do better than this."

Earlier yesterday, an SNP spokesman said: "It is in all of our interests for the debate on Scotland's future to be a respectful and positive one.

"Denigration of individuals has no role to play and supporters on both sides must do all they can to raise the level of debate."