First Minister must sack equalities committee MSPs, say Tories

The Scottish Tories have urged John Swinney to remove the SNP MSPs sitting on the parliament’s equalities committee from their roles following their support for Maggie Chapman’s continued membership.

Tess White, who pressed a vote to remove Chapman as a member and deputy convener, said the SNP MSPs had “brought parliament into disrepute”.

Chapman survived the vote at the committee’s meeting yesterday after convener Karen Adam and members Marie McNair and Evelyn Tweed backed her.

She has been under fire since she said at a protest in Aberdeen that “bigotry, prejudice and hatred” is “coming from the Supreme Court and from so many other institutions in our society”.

Addressing the committee yesterday, the Green MSP said that while she did not agree with the judgment, she had “never questioned the court’s right to make the ruling”.

She added that while she did not expect members to agree with her views, she had a right to express them and MSPs should uphold that right.

White, Tory MSP Pam Gosal and Labour MSP Paul O’Kane voted in favour of her removal from the committee, with White arguing her position was “untenable”.

Swinney previously said that it was “wrong” to accuse the Supreme Court of prejudice, adding that “at no stage should we question the independence of the judiciary and the judicial system”.

Now, in a letter to the first minister, White said: “The MSPs in your own party ignored your condemnation of Ms Chapman’s comments and decided to vote to retain her on the committee.

“This humiliating defiance from your backbenchers has brought Holyrood into disrepute. The Scottish Parliament should not find itself in a position where its members can attack judges on our highest court and still receive backing from your party.

“You must immediately remove the SNP MSPs who sit on the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee in order to restore the integrity of the Scottish Parliament and make clear its members are expected to stand up for the rule of law.

“A failure to do so would demonstrate that you have no respect for women and the rule of law.”