Drawn and pale, Eric Joyce returns to his constituency after bar brawl charge

SHOWING the strain of a stressful week, MP Eric Joyce has been out and about in his constituency for the first time since he was charged with common assault over an alleged incident in a House of Commons bar.

On the morning after he was called on by his local constituency party to “do the decent thing” if found guilty and resign at an emergency meeting on Sunday night, Mr Joyce was trying to get on with his life as normal yesterday as he awaits court proceedings to begin.

After a trip to Tesco to buy eggs, the Labour MP for Falkirk, who lost his shadow Northern Ireland ministerial post after pleading guilty to drink-driving in 2010, told The Scotsman’s photographer that he planned to go to Torridon in the Highlands to do some hillwalking.

Looking drawn and pale, Mr Joyce is understood to be weighing up his future, with the constituency party making it clear he will not be reselected whatever the outcome of his trial.

He is accused of headbutting Stuart Andrew, Tory MP for Pudsey, last Wednesday night in Stranger’s Bar in the Commons.

It was claimed Mr Joyce had been drinking for much of the day and allegedly lashed out after Mr Andrew asked him to quieten his singing.

It was also alleged that he struck a Labour whip, Phil Wilson, and other MPs as they tried to calm him down – and had to be restrained by five police officers.

Mr Joyce, a former army major who was elected in a by-election in 2000, was seen by many to be lucky to survive the expenses scandal, as the highest-claiming MP who ran into trouble for using taxpayers’ money to buy oil paintings for his constituency office.

Some local members ahead of Sunday night’s meeting made it clear they have had enough. Jim Blackwood, an outspoken critic, said: “As far as I’m aware, there is nothing else that we can do right now. I think that even if he is found guilty and sent to jail for less than a year, he can still hold on to his seat until the next election. There is nothing else we can do which is in our remit.”

After the meeting, the chairman of Falkirk constituency party, Martin Murray, said that if the allegations were proven then they expected Mr Joyce to do the “right thing”.

Mr Joyce would be allowed to stay on as an MP if he receives a sentence of less than 12 months in prison if he is convicted, a position his constituency party said would be untenable.

In a statement read after the meeting, Mr Murray said: “It is a matter of grave disappointment that Eric Joyce MP has been involved in an alleged incident.

“Falkirk CLP do not condone such alleged conduct and welcome the prompt suspension by the Labour Party of Mr Joyce.

“Falkirk expects and deserves the best representation and highest standards of behaviour from its elected representatives. If the recent alleged events are proven, then we expect Mr Joyce to do the right thing.”

Nationally, the Labour Party has suspended the whip in Westminster, which means Mr Joyce is not officially a Labour MP.

However, privately in the party there are concerns that if he is convicted the party could be fighting a potentially damaging by-election against the SNP, which has a strong support base in Falklirk.

But the party has made it clear that it will not comment until criminal proceedings are concluded.

A Labour Party spokesman said: “Major Joyce has been suspended from the Labour party pending very serious allegations and criminal charges.

“Whilst the matter is subjudice, it is necessary to exercise significant caution in order not to prejudice proceedings.”

Last week, Mr Joyce’s predecessor, Dennis Canavan, who was expelled from the Labour Party for standing as an independent for the Scottish Parliament, said Mr Joyce was not “a fit and proper person” to be a Member of Parliament.

Mr Joyce, of Bo’ness, near Falkirk, was bailed following the incident and will appear at West London Magistrates’ Court on 7 March.