Everyone is familiar with how the Tory depute provost in Aberdeen was found guilty of physically abusing another man in a public place but then was defended by the BBC, the Scotsman and the Herald against a so-called witch hunt against him. In most headlines, his party was not mentioned. Then there was the Tory MP who repeatedly pinched the bottom of a Labour MP in a Westminster bar, yet suffered no consequences and, in Herald reports, rarely if ever had his party membership mentioned.
But the former SNP minister was, for the Herald in January 2019, ‘shamed’ and always clearly identified as ‘SNP’. Sickeningly, the Herald now seeks to make financial gain from the trauma they helped to cause. What makes it worse, is the relatively minor nature of McDonald’s act.
In November 2017 he sent this text message:
Though clearly stupid, McDonald carried out no physical abusive act, made no actual threats of an abusive act, was not charged by the police and was merely suspended.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Never let an SNP politician relax into normal person mode.
Many of us would be wholly unable to be an SNP politician if our messages to others were put under the microscope.
It is quite startling sometimes, in every day conversations, to realise how deeply some people loathe the SNP, and are indifferent to the idea that they may actually be the party that is helping us through life. It’s very much like the EU – feed people lies and mischief for long enough and it all becomes truefax.
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Editors that run the British press know they can print anything they like about the SNP, SNP politicians, the Scottish government, and face no consequences , that is the kind of regime their billionaire owners applaud! .
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And our problem then is to try and navigate the murky waters of half truth and smears along with the outright lies and ‘colouring by association’ story elements. It just all adds up to being unable to believe anything very much.
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Mark McDonald gave every appearance of being an assiduous, committed and energetic Minister – and a diligent Constituency MSP. He immediately apologised for his mild daftness and, I understand from press reports, undertook counselling around this matter.
Obviously, I have no nuts and bolts info and know only what I’ve read in the public domain – but why this mildly off-colour attempt at humour has led to the current situation is an utter mystery to me. I don’t know Mark McDonald MSP in a personal capacity – but I wish him all the very best in his future life and endeavours. I have spoken to others who recognise Mark’s significant contributions to Scottish life and report themselves as puzzled as I am.
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