Academic pair in formal complaint at 'rudeness'

Two academics at the centre of a row with a Holyrood committee over their aggressive treatment have made a formal complaint to MSPs' independent watchdog.

Professor Andrew Hughes Hallett and Professor Drew Scott accuse the Scotland Bill committee of trying to discredit their "professional competence" as economists for "narrow political reasons".

It follows heated exchanges between the academics and committee convenor Wendy Alexander and Tory David McLetchie at a meeting earlier this month.

The witnesses say they were ambushed with an "interrogation" on their previous work on fiscal autonomy - not about the Scotland Bill, which they had been expecting questions on.

The professors have already complained to Holyrood Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson, which prompted Ms Alexander to write to them offering a meeting with the committee's clerk to discuss "procedural issues".

But Professor Scott said: "We are disappointed Ms Alexander has offered no apology for the way that she and other members of the committee behaved when we appeared before them."

A letter to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Stuart Allan from the academics complains about the "impoliteness and discourtesy" they faced in MSPs' questions.