MSP apologises for 'drivel' in debate

An MSP has attacked the standard of a Holyrood debate on education and apologised to schoolchildren who were forced to witness it.

Deputy Tory leader Murdo Fraser spoke out towards the end of a two-hour parliamentary session, which he described as "drivel".

He said: "It's customary to praise the quality of the debate

but try as I might, I cannot bring myself to do so at the end of a debate that frankly, with few exceptions, has been tedious."

Politicians had been discussing how children can "compete in a globalised 21st century".

Pupils wearing their school uniforms from St Ninian's, Kirkintilloch, watched the debate from the public gallery.

Mr Fraser said he felt sorry for anyone who had to "sit through this drivel for the last two hours".