Minister Jamie Hepburn has resigned after Douglas Ross said Mr Hepburn assaulted him and swore aggressively, but let's try to keep a sense of proportion, says Mark Smith

Firstly, at the time of writing, we don’t yet know all the details of what happened between Douglas Ross and Jamie Hepburn at Holyrood but I’ve seen enough episodes of Judge Judy to know that putting your hand on someone is never acceptable and Mr Hepburn has now resigned. But having said that, FFS, who’s going to speak up for losing your temper and letting some F-words fly?

Me I suppose, meek little me. What we know is that former Scottish Tory leader Mr Ross accused minister Mr Hepburn of assaulting him and swearing at him in an aggressive manner. Mr Ross claimed Mr Hepburn put his hand on him as he left the chamber after the two men clashed over the scheduling of a summit to discuss seagulls. Mr Ross said he reported the incident to the parliament’s chief executive and had been advised to speak to the police. Mr Hepburn said he put his hand on Mr Ross’s shoulder and “used a few choice words I shouldn’t have”. So that’s the he-said-he-said.

A couple of observations before we get into the meat of things. First: what is it with Douglas Ross and seagulls? It’s seagulls this and seagulls that. My very polite point to Mr Ross, with no shouting or swearing whatsoever, would be that the........

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