A TOP mandarin who told MSPs under oath she did not receive a text which said "we may have lost the battle, but we will win the war" after Alex Salmond won his case against the Scottish Government has now admitted she did indeed get it.

Barbara Allison told the Holyrood probe last month she did not receive the message from civil service chief Leslie Evans after being quizzed by Labour's Jackie Baillie.

However, a search by the Crown Office relating to material gathered for the former First Minister's trial this Spring found that Allison had indeed received the text while on holiday.

The search found the message was sent to Allison from Evans on 8 January 2019 - the day Salmond won his judicial review against the government.

The message and reply read: "L Evans: ‘Thanks Barbara – battle maybe lost but not the war. Hope you are having lovely & well deserved break. L’
"B Allison ‘Thanks Leslie. It is lovely here. My mind and thoughts are with you all there tho. Best wishes. Bx"

Allison, who is the Scottish Government director of communications, has now written to MSPs carrying out the inquiry asking them to correct the record of her evidence given last month. She insisted she had answered Baillie "to the best of my recollection".

In her letter to the committee, published today, she said: "I refer to my previous oral evidence session dated 15 September 2020. During questioning I was asked a question by Ms Baillie about whether I had received a specific text message. I answered to the best of my recollection, which was that I had not received the message. 

"The message in question was dated over 18 months previous, and I was on holiday at the time at which it would have been sent. However, as Ms Baillie did not seem satisfied by my response,

"I wrote to the Committee on 21 September advising that I would ask for a further search for this message to be carried out.

"A further search of my own records did not produce any results. 

"Therefore I asked the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal’s Service to provide me with a copy of material which they retrieved from my mobile phone in the context of a criminal trial. I received that material on 23 October. That material confirms that I did indeed receive the message."

She added: "Therefore, in line with the Scottish Parliament’s ‘Guide for witnesses’ ...I would like to take the opportunity to correct he unintended inaccuracy in my previous statement. I received this message on 8 January 2019 and I sent a reply on the same date.

"The text of the message and my reply are noted below: L Evans ‘Thanks Barbara – battle maybe lost but not the war. Hope you are having lovely & well deserved break. L’

"B Allison ‘Thanks Leslie. It is lovely here. My mind and thoughts are with you all there tho. Best wishes. Bx"

A Holyrood committee is investigating Nicola Sturgeon's Government's botched probe into sexual misconduct complaints against Salmond.

The internal probe was ruled to be unlawful and cost the taxpayer more than £500,000.

Allison, who was the Government's director of people from 2009 to 2016, gave evidence to the committee last month. She also told MSPs she had "some early contact" with the two individuals who ultimately complained about Salmond.

Allison is to be further quizzed by MSPs today.

Salmond was acquitted of all charges against him when he stood trial in March at the High Court in Edinburgh.