Eric Joyce must go now, says former-MP Dennis Canavan

A former Westminster and Holyrood politician has called for Eric Joyce to resign his Falkirk constituency seat after he was arrested in a bar at the Houses of Parliament.

The Metropolitan Police are questioning the 52-year-old about a reported disturbance at the Sports and Social Club bar.

Mr Joyce was convicted of assault in a parliamentary bar last year, and later resigned from the Labour Party. He resisted calls at the time to step down as an MP, but he said he would not seek re-election in the 2015 general election.

Dennis Canavan, who was an MP and MSP for Falkirk, said that it was time for the politician to go.

He told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "Well, this is sad news and this is sad for Eric Joyce, but it is even sadder for the people of Falkirk who for over a year now have no effective representation in parliament and they definitely don't deserve this.

"It is time to go for the sake of his constituents and for his own sake, he obviously has a problem and he needs help for that problem."