Holyrood culture under strain as Lennon says conduct deteriorated

A Scottish Labour MSP said the workplace culture at Holyrood has deteriorated in recent years, with more anger in debates and backbench MSPs losing influence. Monica Lennon told BBC Scotland that some ministers and MSPs had "lost the ability to actively listen to one another" during parliamentary business, and that Holyrood should set the highest example.

Her comments come as minister Jamie Hepburn resigned as minister for parliamentary business after a Wednesday incident in which Douglas Ross alleged Hepburn swore aggressively and grabbed him as he was leaving the chamber following an exchange about "out of control" seagulls. Ross told the BBC Hepburn has sent him a "personal, reflective and full apology" via email. Hepburn, in a resignation letter to First Minister John Swinney, said he had "not acted in accordance with [his] own personal code of practice". Ross said he had made several attempts to raise a question about a seagull summit – which took place behind closed doors at NatureScot's headquarters – throughout the week, without success. He criticised Swinney for "doing nothing" about the incident but applauded Hepburn for later contacting him to offer a full apology. "There's a difference between robust debate and physically grabbing someone and using language that is not appropriate in any workplace in the country and that was the difference here," Ross said. "But when you start to manhandle someone, when you start to be unable to control your own temper, that causes problems, as it has with Jamie Hepburn in this case." The Scottish government has been approached for a response.

Lennon said, in her view, Holyrood should be a place for constructive disagreement and cross-party cooperation. "In my first term in parliament, it did feel like there was more cross-party working and a willingness for people to at least try and get on. It definitely feels more performative in the chamber, there's a lot of punching down, shouting down," she told Good Morning Scotland. "It's right that the Holyrood chamber is a place for robust debate. But at times, ministers and some MSPs have lost the ability to actively listen to one another." She added that backbench MSPs—those without formal roles in government or opposition—already found it difficult to influence the topics up for debate or discussion. "I think the culture both in the Scottish Parliament and the political discourse has deteriorated. I think there is a lot more anger."