A SCOTTISH Government minister went on a "sweary rant" in front of MSPs after suffering technical difficulties at Holyrood.
Fergus Ewing is believed to have said the set-up at the Scottish Parliament was a "f***ing shambles" when he struggled to take part in a virtual session this week.
The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism was due to appear on Wednesday before MSPs to answer questions about his brief.
However when his technology failed and he was unable to participate, he is said to have "lashed out" at parliamentary staff who were trying to help.
The latest incident comes three months after investigations into the behaviour of Mr Ewing towards the former head of Marine Scotland (MS) were escalated.
The minister is being formally probed about bullying, which he strongly denies, after the former MS chief and two other civil servants said they had been "verbally harangued" by him.
A source who was present during the incident this week said that Mr Ewing had not turned up early to ensure his technology was working properly.
They said: "I don't think Fergus was aware that his microphone was on, or that we could hear him, but he started being very rude and abusive to the technical support people who were trying to help.
"The session had to be abandoned and rearranged because it just wouldn't work, but it isn't the IT staff's fault."
Video of the session shows Deputy Presiding officer Christine Graham trying to address Mr Ewing in the chamber, while several MSPs watch on.
Ms Graham asks: "Mr Ewing, will you say something so that I know that we can hear you?"
One MSP is heard in the background saying: "Don't swear" before the session is suspended again.
Another person who witnessed the events explained: "[Mr Ewing] was clearly having technical problems, but he had failed to go through the normal onboarding process which MSPs are expected to do in advance of the chamber session going live.
"MSPs do this to identify and resolve and technical problems, and the IT and broadcasting teams as well as the clerks work hard to support members, and they show great patience with those who struggle with the system."
They added: "During this process MSPs are often visible to each other, but not publicly.
"Having arrived late, Fergus's attitude was very demanding to the point of rudeness, and at one point when he may have thought his mic was off, he was outright insulting to the staff who were doing their best."
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: "This is not the first time bullying allegations have emerged about Fergus Ewing.
"As recently as September this year, he was under investigation for alleged inappropriate behaviour.
“He seems to have now lost the plot and gone on a furious, sweary rant at a blameless civil servant, all because he couldn’t get logged in properly.
“The SNP minister should get his act together and stop disrespecting staff who are there to help him when he can’t get his computer to work.”
A spokesperson for Fergus Ewing said: “Mr Ewing of course apologises for any inappropriate language.
"He was not aware that he could be heard when he expressed frustration that he appeared to be trapped on mute and, by definition, was not directing his frustration at any individual given he had no idea anyone in Parliament could hear him.
"The Minister for Parliament has had a conversation with the presiding officer and the matter is now closed.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel