Why Douglas Ross can be Scotland's answer to 'Beast of Bolsover'

Douglas Ross, aka the ‘Hound of the Highlands’, finds himself kicked out of the Scottish Parliament for a day

The spat between Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone and former Conservative leader Douglas Ross after she threw him out of the debating chamber for heckling John Swinney raises some weighty issues.

After all, the Scottish Conservatives have accused Johnstone of showing “a consistent pattern to favour certain parties at the expense of others” and insisted “the Presiding Officer should not show blatant bias”. All very serious.

Dennis Skinner is known for his robust attitude towards political debate (Picture: Oli Scarff) | Getty Images

However, it was surely just a little bit funny to see Ross sent for an early bath for alleged discourtesy given his work as a football referee. Ross argued he should have been given a warning, ie a yellow card, rather than a straight red. One wonders how many footballers have made the same complaint to him.

Ross cuts a rather unlikely figure as the Scottish Parliament’s answer to former Labour MP Dennis Skinner, aka the “Beast of Bolsover”, but perhaps that’s just what the rather namby-pamby ‘debates’ at Holyrood need.

We look forward to seeing the ‘Hound of the Highlands’ howl some more.