Backlash over Holyrood 'reforms'

Procedures at Holyrood are under review

The first minister has been accused of trying to hijack moves to reform procedures in the Scottish Parliament.

Jack McConnell suggested a series of possible reforms in a letter to the parliament's new presiding officer, George Reid.

But the Scottish National Party (SNP) said the proposals were a thinly veiled attempt to influence reforms currently under consideration.

The Scottish Socialist Party and the Scottish Greens also rejected Mr McConnell's proposal that they could take weekly turns at questioning him.

The row was sparked by a letter from the first minister to the new presiding officer on Thursday.

In it, Mr McConnell said he believed that Holyrood could be improved through greater spontaneity, more time for backbench speeches and some flexibility in working hours.

'Cheap attempt'

But his suggestions prompted a sharp response from the SNP's parliament spokeswoman, Fiona Hyslop.

She said: "There is detailed work on improvement to the way the parliament operates already being undertaken.

"This strikes me as a cheap attempt by Jack McConnell to hijack those reforms as a way of attacking Scotland's democratic representative body."

In the letter Mr McConnell also said: "It is important that the leaders of both the smaller parties (Greens and Scottish Socialists) are given their chance to question the first minister.

Tommy Sheridan: "Remarkable increase in support"

"Perhaps a way of dealing with this would be to give each a slot every fortnight, recognising their new position."

But that suggestion has been flatly turned down by both parties.

Tommy Sheridan said Mr McConnell's offer was not enough - and insisted he wanted to be able to grill the first minister every week.

"It's true we are only a small party but we have gained a remarkable increase in support across Scotland, increasing our second vote by 245%, so the idea of one question with one supplementary a week is the least we would expect," he said.

Robin Harper, the Greens' principal speaker, insisted they and the SSP had been "elected for very different reasons" and both had the right to represent their voters every week.

The Lothians list MSP said: "Whilst I welcome the overall tone of Jack McConnell's letter and some of his suggestions, we are extremely concerned about his suggestion that the Greens and the SSP should take it every week about in questioning the first minister, rather than being able to put questions every week."