Where is the justice in putting party before the parly?

If a backbench MSP can be punished for a social media post, but a Cabinet Secretary can mislead parliament and walk away untouched, then something is badly wrong at Holyrood.

- Stephen Kerr Scottish Conservative MSP

That is exactly what Scots have just witnessed in the Angela Constance affair. This was not a minor procedural spat or a routine political disagreement. It was a straightforward test of parliamentary standards, and Holyrood failed it.

An independent expert's evidence was misrepresented to the Scottish Parliament. In any parliament that takes honesty seriously, misleading the chamber is a grave matter.

It goes to the heart of democratic accountability. Yet SNP and Green MSPs chose to close ranks around the Justice Secretary, putting party protection ahead of parliament's authority.

They had a choice. They could defend the integrity of the institution they serve, or they could protect one of their own.

They chose party first. Parliament came second. The hypocrisy was breathtaking. In the same week, Holyrood's Standards Committee recommended that Ash Regan be suspended for two days for publicly stating her intention to report another MSP.

A BACKBENCH MSP was sanctioned for a public statement, while a government minister faced no consequence for misleading the Chamber one rule for ministers, another for everyone else. That is not justice. It is political protection.