Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Thursday, April 15, 2010

Official Report 965KB pdf

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Points of Order

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I seek your guidance on the MSP code of conduct—specifically rule 7.2.5, which states:

“Members must treat other MSPs ... with courtesy and respect.”

Can you confirm whether that courtesy and respect should be extended to the members of the United Kingdom Parliament? I ask the question in view of the behaviour last week, in Dollar, of the Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning, Keith Brown. I believe that Mr Brown’s behaviour was in breach of the code of conduct—

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Is it appropriate for a member to raise unfounded allegations about other members of the Parliament?

I am sorry, but I must interrupt you, Dr Simpson. You were kind enough to give me the wording of your point of order, which I very much appreciate, but I think at this stage that rule 7.2.5 of the code of conduct for members of the Scottish Parliament applies only to how members of the Scottish Parliament treat each other—it does not cover behaviour towards United Kingdom ministers. I caution you against continuing with your point of order.

Thank you.

That is not a point of order for me and I think that I have already covered the point.