It seems completely absurd to Calton that an MSP can be jailed for up to a year and still remain an MSP. Whoever dreamt that one up needs their head looked. How can an MSP possibly represent his/her constituents when in prison? If the rules governing MSPs convicted of offences had been properly drafted first time around we would not now have the unedifying spectacle of Bill Walker's brass neck in hanging on to his seat, Willie Rennie's motion to get rid of him and the Presiding Officer scratching around for ways of at least ensuring Walker doesn't get paid if he goes down. Sort it out Trish.
PS. Calton entirely agrees with Willie Rennie that Walker should quit but can't help wondering if the Libdem leader has his eye on the Dunfermline seat - the Holyrood equivalent of the Westminster seat Rennie lost to Thomas Docherty in 2010. (Rennie is currently a list MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife region.) It might have been better if someone else had instigated the motion for Walker to stand down. Somone in the SNP, for instance. After all, it was the SNP who selected him as a candidate.
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