An MSP has denied hiding a secret camera in a toilet at the Scottish Parliament, after being barred from entering the building.

Colin Smyth, 52, was suspended by Labour earlier this month over a separate charge of possessing indecent images of children.

Smyth criticised Police Scotland for releasing details of its investigation and said it had forced him to leave his home to protect his family.

The South Scotland MSP said he was "fully co-operating" with officers and is due to appear at Dumfries Sheriff Court at a later date.

He will now face a further charge over hiding a camera in the Holyrood building in Edinburgh.

In an email to staff on Thursday, the parliament's corporate body said that Smyth's building access had been revoked due to the "ongoing criminal investigation".

The Scottish Parliament has since confirmed police conducted a search of the building's toilets and changing rooms but found no "covert recording devices".

In a statement, Smyth said the new allegation came as "an utter shock".

The MSP, who was arrested in Dumfries on 5 August, has held several frontbench roles with Scottish Labour and was previously the party's general secretary.

He said: "The speculation, and recent decision by the police to release publicly details of their ongoing inquiries along with my home address has been devastating and has taken a serious toll on my health.

"After my address was published, I felt I had no choice but to move away to protect my family."

Smyth previously worked as a modern studies teacher and has a wife and two daughters.

He added the police investigation was "especially overwhelming" for them.

Security sweeps

In an email to MSPs on Friday, the Scottish Parliament said that staff "safety and welfare" was its priority.

Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone wrote: "We can confirm that Police Scotland, with our support, have conducted a full sweep of all toilets and changing rooms in our building and that no covert recording devices have been found.

"We have also instructed that enhanced additional checks to our existing security sweeps of the building take place going forward."

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body revoked Smyth's access to the building ahead of MSPs returning from the summer recess next week.

It is understood that Smyth could still contribute to debates and vote remotely using a system set up at Holyrood during the pandemic.

Scottish Labour said that Smyth was now an independent MSP after it took "swift action" when the party became aware of the police investigation.

A spokesperson said: "We cannot comment further on these deeply concerning developments while legal proceedings are ongoing."

President Donald Trump has cancelled Secret Service protection which had been arranged for Kamala Harris by Joe Biden before he left office according to one of the vice-president's advisers.

As a former vice-president, Ms Harris was entitled under law to receive six months of this extra security after leaving office in January.

Her protection had been extended for another year by executive directive signed by her former boss but this was revoked by Trump in a memo, seen by the BBC, which is dated Thursday.

The BBC has asked the White House and the Secret Service for comment.

The move comes just weeks before Harris embarks on a national book tour to promote "107 Days" - a memoir of her short-lived and ultimately unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2024.

A copy of a letter seen by the BBC, dated 28 August, directs the Secret Service to "discontinue any security-related procedures previously authorised by Executive Memorandum, beyond those required by law" for Harris from 1 September.

An Italian website that posted doctored images of well-known women, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with obscene commentary, has announced its closure after a backlash from other female politicians.

The explicit site called Phica, a play on the Italian slang for vagina, now displays a message saying it has shut down "with great regret" due to the "toxic behaviour" of some users.

Meloni herself has said she is "disgusted" by the site and called for those responsible to be punished "with the utmost firmness".

The removal of Phica comes days after celebrity figures led a wave of public anger against an Italian Facebook group called Mia Moglie (My Wife), where thousands of men had been swapping intimate images of their partners apparently without their knowledge.

Those pictures were posted with explicit or even violent comments, with users said to include former politicians, businessmen and police officers.

Meta has since closed down the group for "violating our adult sexual exploitation policies".

• Facebook removes group sharing non-consensual photos of women

Phica was a far bigger operation, said to have some 700,000 users, and had been active for two decades despite previous complaints.

Its so-called VIP section contained photos of female Italian politicians and other prominent figures, from actresses to influencers, taken either from public appearances or lifted from personal social media accounts.

The images, including beach shots in swimwear, were digitally altered before being posted in albums with titles like "hot politicians" with other suggestive and sexist captions, prompting vulgar commentary beneath.

Alessandra Moretti, an MEP who spoke out against the site, says it also included incitement to rape.

She is now calling for a collective fight against such platforms and new laws to punish those responsible.

"Complaints are only effective when filed by well-known and influential figures," the MEP from the opposition Democratic Party wrote on Instagram. "Ordinary women, without the tools, are left alone and defenseless."

Phica's statement announcing its closure blamed users who it said had perverted the "spirit and original purpose" of the platform, claiming that it had been intended for those who wanted to "share their content in a safe environment".

But it accepted that the platform had become something people "wanted to distance themselves from, not be proud of", and pledged that all content would now be deleted.

The statement was illustrated with emoji-like images of tears and ended with the words "See you soon".

Italy's Postal Police, who deal with cyber-crime, have confirmed to the BBC that an investigation has been launched.

Phica said it had always blocked and reported all kinds of violence and images of minors.

But a petition for its closure on Change.org, which collected close to 170,000 signatures, said it had included pictures of people taken secretly in changing rooms and beauty salons "or filmed by hidden microcameras in public bathrooms".

Previous complaints about the Mia Moglie group had also gone unheeded.

That changed last week when the writer Carolina Capria denounced the group in a post that went viral. Women who recognised themselves in the images then began to speak out.

Police say they have since been inundated with reports about these and other platforms.

"It is disheartening to note that in 2025, there are still those who consider it normal and legitimate to trample on a woman's dignity and target her with sexist and vulgar insults, hiding behind anonymity or a keyboard," Italy's prime minister told Corriere della Sera newspaper.

She also urged women to report any images that were being shared without their consent.