Tory MSP faces five day Holyrood suspension in prisoner voting row

A Tory MSP is to be excluded by the Scottish Parliament for five days in a row over prisoner voting.

Annie Wells breached Holyrood rules by making comments in the media about the findings of a report by Holyrood's Equalities and Human Rights committee - before it had been formally published.

Ms Wells - who sits on the committee - had objected to the recommendations of its report which called for prisoners to get the vote.

Annie Wells faces five day suspension from Holyrood

Holyrood's Standards committee today considered a complaint by Nationalist Gail Ross that the Tory MSP sought "political advantage" by making public comments on the report.

"It agrees with the findings in fact and conclusion of the commissioner that Annie Wells breached paragraphs 12, 15 and 16 of section 7 of the code of conduct for MSPs by making public press comment in advance of publication of the Equalities and Human Rights committee's report.

"Second the committee considers that the breaches justifies imposition of sanctions on Annie Wells. I propose that the committee will recommend in its report that the Parliament excludes Annie Wells MSP from all meetings of the Parliament and all meetings of its committees for five sitting days."

The exclusion was unanimously agreed by the committee and will have to be formally backed by Parliament.