I was actually in Holyrood today to see Tavish's debut on FMQs - more of that later so I felt some of the highly charged atmosphere. You could feel Labour's anger from the earlier debate on Wendy Alexander's one day suspension from Parliament for failing to register donations to her leadership campaign.
This one has always been a bit of a grey area for me - to me, if she was advised that she didn't need to register the donations to Parliament, then that has to count in her favour. However, she did break the rule, and the punishment meted out, ie a one day ban, was pretty light. She could have survived it and I don't think she actually needed to resign just for that.
I just wonder if debating these things on the floor of the Parliament is such a good idea. The MSPs I talked to based their vote on the debate, as they should have done, and didn't vote on partisan lines. Now, I didn't come down in the last shower and I know bullshit when I see it, but I believe them. It just doesn't look good. Should it not be the case that issues like this are resolved by an independent, non partisan body?
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