Douglas Ross asks Presiding Officer: 'Did you mislead parliament?'

Ex-Tory leader Douglas Ross has asked Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone if she misled parliament in the row over his ejection from the chamber.

The Highlands and Islands MSP was told to leave after calling out during First Minister's Questions last week.

He has since questioned Johnstone's impartiality and today he returned to the Conservative benches to press her on the matter.

Johnstone denied claims of bias as Ross told the chamber she had refused to see him about his expulsion.

She told Ross she was unaware of any requests from him to meet over the matter.

In response, Ross asked if her staff were turning down meeting requests without telling her – or whether she had misled parliament with her answer.

Watching MSPs were heard responding to Ross's question with surprise.

Ending the exchange, Johnstone said Ross's question, raised as a point of order, did not qualify for an answer.

The exchange started when Ross told Johnstone: " Following your decision to remove me from the chamber last Thursday I have made several requests to meet with you to discuss this. So far you have refused all requests."

Johnstone said that was not a point of order and she had "already ruled" on the subject. When he pressed on, she said: "I am not discussing matters that are outwith the Standing Orders in this chamber."

Accusing Johnstone of bias, Ross told her the rules state that the presiding officer "must act in a neutral manner".

Johnstone responded: "Mr Ross, please sit down. I have acted in a neutral manner. I have addressed the point of order on Thursday, I am not continuing to have a dialogue about when I am meeting you in the chamber."

Ross said: "If you are closing down all my attempts to raise this and you are refusing to meet with me, how can you be acting in a neutral manner and treating all members equally, as required by you under rule 3.13 of this parliament?"

The PO said there were “other items of business” for the parliament to discuss, stating: “Mr Ross, as far as I am aware I have not received a request to specifically meet with you, and with regards to the points that you are making, in this chair I treat all members equally and I act in the interests of all members of this parliament.”

After Johnstone opened up the session to topical questions, Ross returned to the matter, saying: “You said you were not aware of any requests to meet with me. Can I therefore get confirmation from you, if people within your office respond to invites to meet with MSPs without consulting you before they decline them, or did you mislead parliament and how would you correct the record?”

Closing the matter down, Johnstone said: “Mr Ross, points of order are to ascertain whether proper procedures are or have been followed in the chamber, therefore the point that you have raised is not a point of order.”