AN MSP who resigned as childcare minister over “inappropriate” behaviour has insisted he is “determined” to change.
Mark McDonald stepped down from the Scottish Government as allegations over sexual misconduct in politics spread from Westminster to Holyrood.
Party bosses in the SNP have offered the Aberdeen Donside MSP “support” to help change his behaviour, which McDonald confirmed he has taken up. It has been reported he quit as a minister because he sent a a woman a text message which included a reference to a sex act.
Nicola Sturgeon has already said the issue was language and not physical conduct. She stressed that while it was “right” for McDonald to have left the government, he had not used “language that would come in any way close to being something that would be required to be referred to the police”.
Writing in a regional newspaper, McDonald made clear he “apologised unreservedly” for his actions. “There is no question in my mind that in making my apology it was also right for me to resign from my role as a government minister,” he said.
“I need to go further than that though. For my apology to mean anything I must also commit to changing my behaviour and to taking more care in my actions and my language. I am determined to do that. I have been offered support through the SNP to help me understand more about the way I behaved, the impact it had upon others and how I can work to ensure my behaviour does change. I have accepted that offer.”
The 37-year-old said he would return to Holyrood after a “period of time supporting my family and serving my constituents”.
He said it was for others to decide if he should continue as an MSP in the next election in 2021.
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