Douglas Ross announces Scottish recall bill for MSPs dubbed 'Mackay's law'

Douglas Ross has announced a recall Bill for MSPs not fit for the job dubbed 'Mackay's law'.

Derek Mackay – the former finance secretary – quit on the eve of the Scottish Budget on February 6 last year after it was revealed he had pestered a 16-year-old boy with messages.

It was reported he sent the school boy 270 messages over six months and even wrote one calling him “cute”.

Speaking to a Scottish Conservative event on Sunday at the annual party conference, Mr Ross claimed the Bill would ensure MSPs not fit for the job would be forced out.

Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross announces his party would bring forward two new bills

The Scottish Tories leader said: “My colleague Graham Simpson is bringing forward Mackay’s Law to give people the power to get rid of MSPs who don’t do their job.

“The ex-SNP finance secretary, Derek Mackay, resigned in disgrace and was never seen in Parliament again, yet Scottish taxpayers were forced to continue to pay him over £100,000.

“In no other job could someone pocket a six-figure salary while hiding at home. So why would we stand for it in the Scottish Parliament?”

Mr Ross also announced his party would introduce a new Local Government Powers and Protection Bill to enshrine in law a “Barnett Formula for councils” that would “restore powers to our communities”.

He explained: “This SNP Government wants to strip councils of powers and funding, to overrule community planning objections, ring fence more of their budget and centralise decision making.

“[It is] an approach the SNP would attack as a power grab if taken by the UK Government.

“That is why we will introduce a new Local Government Powers and Protection Bill to put local people first.

“In introducing these laws, we are challenging the SNP to back these Scottish Conservative plans – or tell taxpayers why they should go to work to pay for an MSP who won’t.”

Mr Ross also told members the Scottish Conservatives were building “the real alternative for working people across Scotland who want to remove the SNP from power”.

After criticising Nicola Sturgeon for becoming “detached from working-class communities”, Mr Ross also accused the SNP leader of turning “the Scottish Government into a subsidy of Yes Scotland”.

He said: “We aren’t here to nod along with the cosy Holyrood consensus that exists between the SNP, Labour, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.

“We are here to build Scotland’s real alternative to the SNP, a real alternative that stands up for the beliefs of hard-working Scots right across the country.

“A real alternative for everyone who wants to get rid of this SNP Government.”

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: "Douglas Ross' s desperate speech to the fringes of the Conservative Party conference would be amusing were it not so detached from reality.

"The idea that the Scottish Conservatives are the champions of working people, at a time when they are set to give the green light to the devastating cut to Universal Credit, is simply deluded.

“No matter how hard Douglas Ross tries to puff out his chest and portray himself as a champion of the Union, the fact remains that he and his party are united with the SNP in the politics of grudge, grievance and division."

The SNP have been approached for comment.