Lib Dem MP ordered to apologise for grabbing staff member’s security pass

A Liberal Democrat MP has been ordered to apologise for breaching Parliament’s rules on bullying.

Parliament’s complaints service found Angus MacDonald, MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, broke the rules by grabbing a contractor’s security pass in an incident last year.

The watchdog launched an investigation after a complaint by the contractor, who had been on his first day working as a verbatim court reporter, training to report on parliamentary committee proceedings.

The contractor said that, before a meeting of the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee, MacDonald had grabbed the security pass he was wearing around his neck “without any prior warning and with such force that he was physically tilted forward” in a “semi-bowed position”.

During an investigation by Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Service (ICGS), Mr MacDonald said he had no memory of the incident and that he was “probably reading the complainant’s name on the pass” and denied bullying the contractor.

He also argued that, even if he had grabbed the contractor’s pass, it did not amount to bullying or harassment.

The ICGS investigation and Parliament’s standards commissioner upheld the contractor’s complaint, but MacDonald appealed against their findings, claiming there were flaws in the investigation and its findings were unreasonable.

However, an independent expert panel dismissed MacDonald’s appeal, saying it had “no substance”.

In a report published on Tuesday, the panel said: “The procedures were not materially flawed nor were they unfair, and the decisions reached by the commissioner were not unreasonable.”

Ordering MacDonald to make a “full and unreserved apology in writing” to the contractor, the expert panel said there had been a “significant power imbalance” between the MP and the complainant.

They also found that the complainant’s vulnerability as a new employee and someone who had suffered serious abuse when he was younger were aggravating factors, but noted Mr MacDonald was unaware of them.

The panel also noted the case involved a single incident and Mr MacDonald had expressed some remorse by offering a “brief written apology” during the investigation.

They added: “His remorse is not, however, entirely unequivocal. Although he accepts that he may well have held the security pass without any warning or request to do so, he still denies that he would have used any force.

“Nevertheless, he expresses in his statement that he is deeply sorry the complainant was left feeling upset and disrespected.”

A spokesperson for MacDonald said: “Mr MacDonald accepts the conclusions of this report and has provided a full written apology to the complainant. He regrets any distress caused to the individual involved.”