Holyrood must be given the power to ban criminal MSPs like wife-beating Bill Walker, the outgoing Presiding Officer has said.
The lack of any mechanism to ditch the former Dunfermline representative, who was convicted of 23 charges of domestic abuse, frustrated Tricia Marwick.
Creative thinking led to the man who was elected to represent the SNP then subsequently binned from the party being threatened with a 90% wage docking during his prison term. He soon quit Holyrood under intense pressure from politicians and the press.
Ms Marwick said: “We did a very clear calculation that we would abate the salary of any MSP who was imprisoned. That wasn’t just for Bill Walker. That was for anybody in a similar situation. In the absence of any other powers that is all we have. Of course he resigned almost immediately.
“We need the power in here to decide for ourselves what action, if any, we take on MSPs, particularly those that have been jailed for offences. That should be in our hands.”
Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP Ms Marwick will finish her frontline political career after the next election after 17 years in the Scottish Parliament, the final five of which have been as a reforming Presiding Officer.
Parliament days have taken MSPs out of Edinburgh and into communities across Scotland, including Arbroath and Dunfermline.
Reshaping the working week has allowed for a “topical question” session each Tuesday so ministers are faced with the issue of the day.
Changes have been made to committees to try to empower conveners, although political parties have blocked plans to allow the chairs to be elected by MSPs rather than hand-picked by leadership.
The first ever female PO also rejigged First Minister’s Questions to allow more time for backbench MSPs to quiz the person at the top of the Scottish Government, although Ms Marwick admits that’s still “a work in progress”.
Given the occasionally cacophonous nature of debate, particularly the weekly question time, does she think behaviour is getting worse?
“I don’t think it has deteriorated,” said Ms Marwick.
“What I do find very, very difficult is the lack of respect or courtesy that they’ve got for each other. I cannot stand it when people are shouting across the chamber at each other.
“These are the things that irritate me beyond belief. But then I was no shrinking violet myself on the backbenches.”
The Markinch native is the only PO who has never had to stand up, which is “supposed to be the absolute ultimate” action to calm rowdy and rowing MSPs down.
She added: “There are times I can barely hear what’s going on and that makes it difficult. It’s challenging but I don’t think it’s been any more challenging for me than any other Presiding Officer.”