Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has suggested banning phones in parliament could improve the quality of debate in Holyrood.

Speaking at a fringe event organised by the EIS union at the SNP party conference, the former teacher said the use of devices in the chamber impacted how MSPs engaged with each other.

The Cabinet Secretary said she had some sympathy with one of the Deputy Presiding Officers who told her that politicians in the Scottish Parliament did not debate but engaged in a "reading out contest."

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Ms Gilruth made the comments as she spoke about the recent guidance on mobile phones in schools.

While headteachers have the power to ban the devices, the Scottish Government does not intend to bring in a nationwide ban.

Ms Gilruth, a former modern studies teacher, was talking about the disruption in the classroom caused by devices.

She said: “If any of you ever watch Parliament TV, maybe you do, if you tune into debates, or if you watch committee appearances routinely, MSPs - and I put myself in this - sit on their electronic devices.

“When my predecessor in my constituency, Tricia Marwick, was the presiding officer, she banned all electronic devices in the parliament.

“And one of the [Deputy Presiding Officers] actually said to me recently, ‘we don't debate anymore in the parliament we have a reading out contest’ and I think to some extent that's true.

“So maybe we should look at the use of electronic devices in our parliament because we're asking our kids to do something in terms of their behaviour, maybe politicians should learn similarly, to engage better and not be using our electronic devices all the time.”