Willie Rennie talks about domestic abuse and Bill Walker, Yes Scotland supporter tweets he has a "face you just want to hit with a shovel"

Willie Rennie went on Channel 4 News to talk about why he wants to see convicted violent abuser Bill Walker MSP (TM Better Nation) out of the Parliament. He talked about how he wanted to see a recall law to enable people like him to be forced out if they won't do the decent thing and resign. Walker, you may remember, was recently convicted of 23 counts of violent assaults against 3 ex wives and a stepdaughter over a 28 year period.

In a quiet corner of Twitter, some independence supporters were talking about him. Here's how the conversation goes:

Delightful, isn't it. Yes Scotland supporter Roseanne Stuart says that Willie has a face you want to hit with a shovel.

The equally pleasant LabForIndyInterNat, who said Willie had a grunge face like Albert Steptoe's did us a bit of favour though. He posted a video I hadn't seen before from an independence debate that Willie took part in in May. It's to Willie's credit that he was eminently reasonable, and a bit funny at times. But compare his approach to life to these rather sad people. He was really complimentary about Nicola Sturgeon, calling her one of the best ministers in the Scottish Government. I happen to agree with him on that as I have a lot of time for Nicola, but it shows a generosity of spirit which appears to be lacking on the Nationalist side at the moment, most obviously with Alex Salmond's comments that the pro UK stance is "against Scotland."

Anyway, if you have a spare hour and a half, it's worth a watch. 

UPDATE: I should add that a nationalist friend of mine has pointed me on Facebook to a couple of pretty vile tweets about Alex Salmond. This one is particularly unpleasant and I link to it just to show that this stuff happens on both sides and that wherever it does, it's bang out of order.

Like Nick Ross at the end of Crimewatch, I probably ought to add in a "don't have nightmares - most people, whatever side they are on, are pretty reasonable. Let's hope it stays that way. All of us who are involved in the debate need to try and bring light and respect into it as well as robust analysis.

How Hannah spent her birthday - the Bill Walker protest in pictures.

Hannah Bettsworth is a fabulous Liberal Youth Scotland member. She's the president of Edinburgh University Liberal Democrats and today is her 19th birthday.

And where was she in the glorious sunshine?

Outside Holyrood protesting against Bill Walker, the convicted violent abuser (TM Better Nation) who refuses to resign from the Scottish Parliament.

Lots of other lovely people were there too.

Including this one. And an honourable mention if you can guess who is holding this. 

Four of the five Liberal Democrat MSPs were there - and, in fact, I saw some from every party. Even Tories.

But mostly it was women come to express their horror that a man with a long history of violent abuse of women and who has shown not the slightest sign of remorse, is still able to represent them in Parliament, able to vote on matters relating to domestic abuse, which the Parliament will be discussing in the new legislative programme. Today was the Holyrood equivalent of the Queen's Speech except we get Alex Salmond.

I wonder what it's like for female MSPs, knowing that Walker might appear. They know that in any interaction they have with him that he doesn't view women as equals and has a track record of harming them. That must be quite difficult to handle. I feel uneasy just knowing that he's a member of my Parliament. It bothers me on behalf of the women of Dunfermline, especially those who have been exposed at some time to domestic abuse themselves, that he can have any role in making laws that they have to live by. 

I didn't take any pictures of Hannah herself, sadly, but I wish her a very happy day and successful year ahead and I hope that we make some progress in the quest to stop violence against women and girls in the next 12 months. 

We should all just shut up about Bill Walker and let things take their course

Innocent until proven guilty. One of the fundamental cornerstones of our legal system.

Bill Walker, MSP for Dunfermline West, has been arrested and charged in connection with allegations of domestic abuse.

What's important now is that the justice system should be allowed to take its course and while it does, we should all keep our traps shut.

That includes Labour MP Thomas Docherty and  MSP Jackie Baillie who have today called for Walker to resign. It's completely inappropriate and Docherty himself has a cheek. In 2010, when he stood in Dunfermline, he faced charges of careless driving from which he was later cleared. It wouldn't have occurred to anyone at the time to call for his resignation as candidate solely on the basis of being charged. Maybe he should treat people with the respect with which he was treated.

Jackie Baillie is trying to bring Nicola Sturgeon into it as well, saying that her office was told of the allegations long before the election. As far as I'm aware, the person didn't speak directly to Nicola and this seems to be more to do with political mischief making than anything else.

On a personal level, I have absolutely no time for Bill Walker at all. I think, however, that we should all refrain from talking about the case and any potential charges until the legal process has been completed. It's only fair. Jackie Baillie and Thomas Docherty should know that.

Salmond fails on carbon capture at #fmq

The SNP will do anything to take a knock at the UK Government. It's all part of their plan to persuade the people that anything that involves Westminster is the Spawn of Satan.

First Minister's Questions is, these days, not so much an opportunity to scrutinise the Government, but more a place for craven SNP backbenchers to do homage to their Mighty Leader.

And so it was when Bill Walker, who was pretty surprised to be elected MSP for Dunfermline in May, rose to his feet to ask about Carbon Capture. You could tell his question had been written by the Whips because he clearly didn't understand it himself, tripping over any word longer than 3 syllables. Not for the first time, I wanted Jim Tolson back there.

The First Minister wasted no time in slating the Westminster Government and the Liberal Democrats in particular for withdrawing the funding for carbon capture. Err, no, they haven't.  The money is still there. It was just going to be way too expensive to develop at Longannet. It's difficult to make it work in a coal plant and the idea that you can somehow make coal cleaner is not an easy one to make a reality.

The idea is, however, much more likely to succeed at a gas plant and the money available for CCS is likely to stay in Scotland, at Peterhead. And, even better, 75% of the work done at Longannet can be transferred.

But of course the First Minister didn't mention any of this. Yet again, the facts get in the way of his union bashing agenda.