Douglas Ross makes formal complaint to John Swinney over alleged ‘bullying’ by Jamie Hepburn
Douglas Ross has made a formal complaint to John Swinney over allegations that Jamie Hepburn used “bullying behaviour” towards him.
The former Conservative leader has written a letter to the first minister regarding the alleged conduct of the parliamentary business minister, urging that the matter be referred to the Independent Advisers on the Scottish Ministerial Code.
Following First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Ross raised a point of order in which he told the chamber he was “physically assaulted and verbally abused” by SNP minister Jamie Hepburn in the Scottish Parliament, the previous day.
Hepburn acknowledged he had used some “choice words” during an interaction between the pair but denied anything more than that.
In the letter, Ross cited several paragraphs within the Scottish Ministerial Code that he believed were broken.
He wrote: “Aggressively grabbing a fellow MSP, raising one's voice in anger, and using foul and abusive language falls well below the standards set out in these provisions.
“This amounts to bullying behaviour and, in my view, is a clear breach of the ministerial code. I fear for other colleagues who may be exposed to this behaviour if Mr Hepburn continues in his position of power within your government.”
Ross added: “Given the seriousness of the behaviour, the public nature of the incident, Mr Hepburn's lack of denial of key aspects of the incident and the Ministerial Code's zero tolerance policy, I believe swift and transparent action is required to uphold confidence in the standards expected of ministers.”
Yesterday, Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone called it a “very serious allegation” and said complaints about ministers were dealt with through the ministerial code and therefore a matter for the first minister.
The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
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