A NATIONALIST MSP has been dragged into the sexual harassment scandals sweeping politics after asking a colleague about the size of her breasts.
Richard Lyle, who represents Uddingston and Bellshill, admitting making the comment during a Christmas party.
But he said he regretted the incident and later gave the woman a “box of chocolates by way of an apology”.
It comes amid the continuing fall-out from the harassment and misconduct allegations which have engulfed the worlds of entertainment, politics and business.
READ MORE: Sturgeon's husband to be grilled by SNP over handling of Cambridge Analytica scandal
Former SNP childcare minister Mark McDonald resigned from the party last month after being accused of harassment and inappropriate behaviour.
Mr Lyle, 67, told the Sunday Post newspaper that he “apologised later and the apology was accepted”.
He added: “I realised afterwards that my comment was inappropriate. I sought that person out and apologised, and gave her a box of chocolates by way of an apology.
“I did make a comment, I then regretted making that comment and I apologised to that person.
“It was at an SNP Christmas party, and it was an inappropriate comment that I do regret making and I fully apologise for it.”
It is understood Mr Lyle made the remark to the woman across a table at a Christmas party. He asked: “How big are your **** anyway?”
READ MORE: Sturgeon's husband to be grilled by SNP over handling of Cambridge Analytica scandal
He reportedly apologised after being confronted by her angry boss, and bought the woman a box of Toffifee sweets.
A formal complaint was never lodged, and the SNP said no further action had been taken.
Mr McDonald returned to Holyrood last month as an independent MSP after allegations emerged about his behaviour towards female colleagues.
He is currently the subject of an investigation by Scotland’s public ethics watchdog.
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