Sir David was speaking at the Edinburgh book festival

Sir David Steel said the parliament had performed well since the devolution settlement in 1999.

But he said the list voting system, by which 56 MSPs are elected regionally by a form of proportional representation, had not been a success.

Sir David, who was presiding officer for the first four years of parliament, made the comments when he delivered a lecture at the Edinburgh Book Festival on Monday evening.

No self-respecting parliament should expect to exist permanently on 100% handouts determined by another parliament Sir David Steel

He said parliament would be better served if MSPs were elected by the single transferable vote (STV).

Sir David said the list system was a mistake and led to MSPs being elected "by less than truly democratic means".

He also said:

• parliament should be responsible for levying a share of its own tax funding

• MSPs were not to blame over the rising costs of the controversial Holyrood building project

• he approached the Bank of Scotland and asked if the Holyrood project could be paid for like a house with a mortgage - but was told no

• tensions between constituency and list MSPs also led to a "confusing and expensive" amount of parliamentary offices.

Sir David said the parliament would benefit by controlling its own finances and relying less on "hand-outs" from Westminster.

He said: "No self-respecting parliament should expect to exist permanently on 100% handouts determined by another parliament.

"Nor should it be responsible for massive public expenditure without any responsibility for raising revenue in a manner accountable to its electorate.

"Even the smallest local council in the land, whilst deriving the bulk of its income from central government, still has to settle its annual council tax and answer for its decision to the public it serves.

"The parliament should do no less."

'Harsh lesson'

Scottish National Party leader John Swinney said Sir David's call for reform showed that "a harsh lesson" should be learned from parliament's work since 1999.

He said: "The fact that this is seen as a key issue of the last four years is a sad indictment of the Liberal and Labour Executive's record.

"The parliament is meant to be about the people's priorities - about where we are going as a nation, not about politicians and political processes.

"He is right that that is what it has been about - and we must draw a harsh lesson from that."

Sir David stood down from Scottish politics after the May elections.