Anger as Salmond raises £85k online in sex claims battle
ALEX Salmond sparked uproar last night by raising £85,000 from the public to pay legal costs linked to his sexual harassment case.
The former SNP leader and Scottish first minister quit the party on Wednesday and urged backers to donate to his cause.
By last night he had far exceeded his target of £50,000 to fund an action against the Scottish government.
Launching his online crowdfunding page, the 63-year-old fiercely denied the allegations against him, and said he would rejoin the party once he had cleared his name.
But Mr Salmond’s critics accused him of ‘abusing his power’ – he is a presenter on the RT channel, formerly Russia Today.
Rhoda Grant, the women’s spokesman for Scottish Labour, said: ‘That an independently wealthy man with his celebrity and political power is to raise legal fees through a crowdfunder for a case ultimately linked to sexual harassment is unbelievable. It suggests he is sending a signal to those who have made allegations that he has the upper hand. Decent people will rightly be furious that he is to raise money to take the Scottish government to court.
‘Alex Salmond is abusing his power, and dragging Scotland into the gutter.’
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she felt a ‘huge sadness about this whole situation’ but understood why he had stepped down. She raised concerns that the row over her predecessor’s response to the allegations could discourage women from coming forward with complaints in the future.
Mr Salmond is challenging the way the complaints against him have been handled. By 8am yesterday, his page had raised more than £60,000. Last night the total stood at more than £85,000.
In a video Mr Salmond said: ‘I have been a member of the Scottish National Party for 45 years, 20 of them as party leader and seven as first minister of Scotland.
‘I hope I have done the party and the broader cause of independence some service.
‘I truly love the SNP and the wider independence movement in Scotland. They have
‘Abusing his power’
been the defining commitment of my life. But today I have written to the national secretary of the party resigning my membership.’
Mr Salmond said he was giving up his membership to avoid internal divisions.
Two complaints, fiercely denied by Mr Salmond, were raised in January against him and he was informed of an investigation in March.
The former SNP leader, who was Scotland’s longest serving first minister, is now taking court action against the Scottish government, with papers lodged at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Tuesday.
The allegations about Mr Salmond’s conduct toward two staff members in 2013, while he was in office, emerged last week.