ALEX Salmond is to break his silence over the Government’s mishandling of complaints made against him when he appears before the Holyrood inquiry into the matter next month, it has emerged.
Nicola Sturgeon is due to appear before the committee’s long-running probe a week later in what may be the final oral session of the inquiry, which began taking evidence from witnesses in August. Salmond will appear before the committee on January 19, while Sturgeon will give evidence on January 26.
Last week, it was disclosed that external legal counsel threatened to withdraw from the Scottish Government legal team unless it collapsed its case.
Documentation released on Wednesday indicates that as far back as October 2018, the Government and its lawyers had been discussing the controversial role of an investigating officer in the complaints – more than two months before the Government conceded the case.
Salmond’s supporters claim this proves the administration should have withdrawn much earlier, saving the taxpayer public expense. After the Government admitted defeat in January last year, it was ordered to pay more than £500,000 to cover Salmond’s legal costs.
It admitted it had acted unlawfully when investigating harassment complaints – denied by Salmond – by appointing an investigating officer who had “prior involvement” in the case.
The inquiry has already highlighted a series of apparent inconsistencies in the position adopted by the First Minister and her husband, Peter Murrell, the SNP chief executive.
Salmond is understood to have lodged evidence challenging Murrell’s testimony, the Sunday Times reported yesterday, which also gave the dates for Salmond’s and Sturgeon’s appearances before MSPs conducting the probe, chaired by the SNP MSP Linda Fabiani.
Murrell potentially undermined key evidence given by the First Minister to probe when he appeared before the inquiry earlier this month.
He said he was unaware that she and Salmond had discussed the complaints made by two civil servants in meetings at the couple’s home, saying he believed it was Scottish Government business being discussed.
Previously, Sturgeon told parliament that those meetings, of which no records were taken, were held in her capacity as party leader and therefore not a matter of state.
The ministerial code demands that any meetings undertaken on government business should be recorded. A minister found to have knowingly misled Holyrood “will be expected to offer their resignation”.
Questioned under oath by Murdo Fraser, a Scottish Conservative MSP, Murrell said he was not informed about the details of the meeting on April 2, 2018 at the home he shares with Sturgeon.
Crucially, the First Minister previously told MSPs that she first became aware of her government’s investigation into Salmond at this meeting. It has since emerged that she had been warned about the issue by Geoff Aberdein, Salmond’s former chief of staff, in her Holyrood office four days earlier, on March 29, 2018.
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