Douglas Ross apologises to presiding officer over ‘bias’ row

Douglas Ross has apologised to the presiding officer after refusing to leave the chamber when asked on Tuesday evening.

The former Scottish Conservative leader had accused Alison Johnstone of showing bias in favour of SNP MSPs.

When Johnstone said she was “wholly impartial and fair”, Ross replied: “No, you are not.”

Asked to withdraw his remarks, he said: “I will withdraw them even though I believe them.”

The presiding officer then asked Ross to leave the chamber, saying the response was “not satisfactory” – but the MSP refused to do so, even when security staff were called.

But Ross has now written to Johnstone to apologise for his behaviour, according to the BBC.

He may still be sanctioned by the presiding officer, who has the power to ban MSPs for two sitting days from the chamber.

This is not the first time Ross and Johnstone have disagreed in the chamber, with the Tory MSP asked to leave last May for interrupting proceedings.

At the time, Johnstone said he had “persistently refused to abide by our standing orders”.

This led Ross to question the neutrality of the presiding officer and call on her to “seriously consider her neutral role”.

The Scottish Conservatives backed Ross’s view, saying Johnstone had shown “blatant bias” against the group.

Johnstone said at the time: “I treat all members equally and I act in the interests of all members of this parliament.”

First elected as a Green MSP in 2011, she resigned her party membership to take on the role of presiding officer at the start of this session.

Last summer she confirmed she would not seek re-election in May.