Time for tired Tories to show out-of-ideas Douglas Ross the door

 Tory MSPs are being urged to show their out of ideas leader Douglas Ross the door after he turned what should have been an impartial disciplinary process into shallow partisan politics, say the Scottish Greens.

He used a party debate to focus on sanctions brought against a former minister, Michael Matheson, despite the Chamber having already spent significant time debating and then voting on the same issue only moments before.

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said:

“Today the mask truly fell and has exposed Douglas Ross as cruel, vindictive and petty, devoid of any new ideas, and someone who is dragging even the Tory party to disgraceful new depths.

“He could have been using his party’s debate to be talking over a range of important issues such as the cost of living crisis, energy prices, his party’s position on refugees, cuts to welfare, national service or the climate emergency.

“Instead, he squandered rare parliamentary time on a shameful attempt to turn a serious disciplinary process into shallow partisan politics.

“It demonstrates once again that he has no ideas or policies that he can put to the public on behalf of his party. His MSPs must be utterly embarrassed at his lack of leadership.

“On BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland show he was called out live on air by the interviewer, perplexed that she couldn’t get him to talk about his own party’s policies as he was obsessed over political rivals.

“That’s what people are seeing in the General Election trail too, lots of his opinions on other parties being dripped out, but nothing about his own.

“If his members want to know why they are facing a near wipeout in Scotland, there’s your answer.

“It’s hard to know whether to laugh or feel contempt for him as he flounders from day to day. It must now surely be only a matter of time before his group of MSPs, or more likely his masters in London, realise they need to show him the door.

“Unfortunately for the rest of us the tired Tories have yet another debate coming next week. The chances of it being about any kind of positive policy agenda for Scotland are very slim, because like Douglas Ross, they are out of ideas and thankfully, out of time.”