No bullying complaints about MSP Monica Lennon, Scottish Labour leader says

Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra says the party has not received any complaints about MSP Monica Lennon.

It comes after The Scotsman reported that four of Lennon's former staffers had accused her of bullying.

The Glasgow MSP has denied the allegations and described them as defamatory.

Marra, who saw off competition from Lennon to win the Scottish Labour leadership this summer, said that neither the party nor its parliamentary group had received a complaint.

In a short statement to reporters, he confirmed he had spoken to Lennon and said that he would "follow due process as we go forward".

One staffer told The Scotsman that Lennon's office was a "toxic environment".

Another alleged that the MSP "seemed to really enjoy making me feel stupid and deliberately tripped up, which was humiliating".

Under Holyrood's rules, it is MSPs - not the parliament - that employs their staff.

Some staff are represented by the National Union of Journalists. The union's former Scotland organiser, Paul Holleran, told BBC Scotland News that he represented one member of Lennon's staff and negotiated an exit package for them.

He explained that the complaint was not officially lodged with the party or the parliament, but it had involved allegations of bullying behaviour that had impacted on the staff member's mental health and wellbeing.

In the Scotsman report it was alleged Labour figures were aware of claims about Lennon's behaviour.

However, Lennon described the allegations as "completely untrue and defamatory", adding: "There are rightly policies and procedures in place for any employee to raise concerns about their employers."

The MSP, who was first elected in 2016, lost her seat in May's election but was reinstated to parliament after former Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar quit Holyrood to take up a seat in the House of Lords.

She attempted to win the party leadership following Sarwar's resignation but failed to secure sufficient backing from her colleagues, with Marra winning the context.

Marra said previously that Lennon would be offered a position in his frontbench team, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

He told reporters at Holyrood on Thursday morning: "My first priority in all of this is that people have a right to come to their work and to do their job, and to feel they can speak up about any issue at any time.

"I spoke to Monica last night. Obviously, after the reports came out, I can confirm that neither the Labour group or the party have complaints at the moment, and my process on this is to follow due process as we go forward."

The Scottish Parliament said it would not comment on the claims.

A spokesman said that it took a "zero-tolerance approach to bullying and harassment".

They added that it was implementing the recommendations a workplace review, including the creation of a confidential HR advice service for MSP staff.