DOUGIE Ross, the refereeing MP, was running the line at a Scottish Cup Final when a fan let rip at him shouting “ya blind Tory b******, he was miles offside.”

The shouter was taken to task by the resident wit sitting close to him in a supposedly neutral zone who said loudly “hey, ye cannae say that, it’s a hate crime.” That person’s expression indicated he was joking, it should be said, and there were smiles and laughter all round.

Back came the original shouter: “Well he is blind, isn’t he? It’s no’ a hate crime if it’s true.”

To which the resident wit answered: “I wasn’t talking about him being blind, pal, but calling him a Tory is just too much.”

At which The Kicker personally intervened in the debate to point out that Ross at that point in 2015 had just been the Conservative and Unionist candidate for the Moray seat in Westminster, and had come second to Angus Robertson of the SNP.

“So he is a Tory b******!” said the resident wit, who then spent the rest of the match screeching abuse at Ross, most of it very unfair as the assistant referee actually performed well – he is a specialist in that ‘assistant’ role.

That’s the problem for Ross, who of course became a Tory list MSP for the Highlands and Islands in 2016 and then an MP in June this year – he’s actually quite good at his ‘hobby’ as he calls the refereeing gig which last night saw him miss the crucial debate in Westminster on Universal Credit so that he could be assistant referee at the Barcelona v Olympiakos match in the Champions League.

Of course he also missed vital stuff to take part in games before when he was at Holyrood, and his remarks about Gypsy Travellers were disgraceful though the SFA cleared him – surprise, surprise – but Ross’s greatest crime, in the eyes of some of those who follow politics, has been to inflict Jamie Halcro Johnston on the Scottish Parliament, as Halcro Johnston was next on the Tory list for the region and therefore automatically stepped up the take Ross’s place as an MSP – no, I’ve not heard of him either.

The fact is that Ross has two jobs, and no amount of claiming that his officiating is a ‘hobby’ will disguise the fact that he is a professional official who is paid plenty – apparently up to £40k a year – and when on Uefa or Fifa duty he gets to stay in a first class hotel, be chauffeured around and have three meals a day, all on his hosts.

There will be those who argue that Ross’s external activities do not interfere with his ‘day job’ but of course that is arrant nonsense or else he would have been in the House of Commons last night. He either has to have one job or the other.

Ross has brought himself to the attention of the national press with his decision. Perhaps he might want to reflect on whether running the line in the Camp Nou is of more use to his constituents than voting on UK government legislation.