THE DAY OF RECKONING
■ Ex-minister warns that fallout from Salmond trial could cause fatal SNP split ■ Another top Nationalist demands judge-led inquiry to probe claim of conspiracy
THE SNP will face a ‘day of reckoning’ over the way allegations about Alex Salmond were dealt with, according to a former Scottish Government minister.
Marco Biagi suggested that the fallout from the trial could cause fatal splits in the SNP similar to those in the Scottish Socialist Party during Tommy Sheridan’s defamation case.
And former Health Secretary Alex Neil demanded a judge-led inquiry to determine whether there was a ‘conspiracy’ designed to ‘do in’ Mr Salmond.
Mr Neil said it should consider whether there was any criminal activity involved.
It comes as the verdict – which saw Mr Salmond cleared of 13 charges of alleged sex crimes including attempted rape – continues to cause ructions in the party.
Mr Salmond has already said that some evidence which was not heard in court will ‘see the light’ in the future, once the coronavirus crisis is dealt with.
Mr Biagi, who was local government minister under Mr Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon between 2014 and 2016, told the Scottish Daily Mail: ‘This is not the end of the story. Our current public health emergency defers the day of reckoning but does not avert it.
‘Those in the SNP who were convinced of Salmond’s guilt have reacted with shocked disbelief and indicated they will not be welcoming him back into the party.
‘On the other side, his supporters, such as Kenny MacAskill and Joanna Cherry, are equally quick in making clear they felt heads must now roll in the party bureaucracy.
‘A Holyrood inquiry, long on hold due to the live court proceedings, will give opposition politicians their chance to join the fray, too.
‘What follows may not be a pleasant sight.’
After the verdict on Monday, Mr MacAskill, Nationalist MP for East Lothian, said he was ‘delighted’ for Mr Salmond but that ‘some resignations’ were now needed.
Miss Cherry, MP for Edinburgh South West, said there are ‘very serious questions’ about the complaints process within the Scottish Government and the SNP.
Mr Biagi said: ‘Recriminations around Tommy Sheridan’s trial over a decade ago split the Scottish Socialist Party and ended it as a serious force. Last October, in a restaurant in Aberdeen around a table with party colleagues I’d known for years, I found myself wondering whether we’d even be on speaking terms a year hence.
‘Salmond has been acquitted, but what happens now to the party he once led? On that question, the jury is still out.’
Sheridan won a 2006 defamation case against the now defunct News of the World but the Scottish Socialist Party descended into vicious infighting which led to it losing all five of its MSPs in 2007. He was jailed for perjury in 2010.
Mr Salmond’s supporters believe Miss Sturgeon, her SNP chief executive husband Peter Murrell and Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans all have questions to answer.
The evidence Mr Salmond referred to outside the High Court on Monday was covered by a court order which meant its content could not be revealed until the resolution of the trial.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday, Mr Neil demanded a ‘judge-led independent inquiry’.
He said: ‘My view is that once the coronavirus crisis is over there needs to be a judge-led independent inquiry to find out was there a conspiracy. If there was, what was the conspiracy, who was involved and was there criminality involved in such a conspiracy?
‘Clearly, the allegation is that there was a conspiracy involving a number of people to do in Alex Salmond. If we end up in decisions, for example, made by the civil service which are driven by political motivation – that is a very, very serious allegation.’
Jim Sillars, a former deputy leader of the SNP, also wrote in the Scottish Sun that Mr Salmond had shared evidence with him which showed ‘he was being deliberately set up’. He described it as ‘a clear political conspiracy at the highest levels of the party to bring him down and stop him re-entering the political front line’.
He said: ‘It was the dirtiest blow I have ever witnessed in 60 years of political life, and delivered to a man who, for all my criticism, had done more for independence than any other person alive or dead.’
Miss Sturgeon is refusing to answer further questions about the fallout from the trial until after the coronavirus crisis is over, her spokesman has confirmed.
Her spokesman said: ‘I am not going to enter a long line of questions on this. I refer you to the First Minister’s statement on this yesterday, where she made clear she will be more than happy to deal with questions on this in times to come but, given the magnitude of what we are dealing with, now is not the time for that.’
He added that tackling the coronavirus crisis will get ‘absolute priority’ over anything else.
It was also confirmed there was no mention of the verdict of Mr Salmond’s trial in Cabinet when it met in Edinburgh yesterday.
Miss Sturgeon referred herself for investigation in January 2019 to determine whether she breached the ministerial code of conduct when she held a series of private meetings and conversations with Mr Salmond about the allegations against him.
The Scottish Government said last year the referral will not immediately be investigated because of fears it may ‘unintentionally prejudice live criminal proceedings’.
Miss Sturgeon’s spokesman said he could not confirm when an investigation will be launched, adding: ‘It’s not something, given what we are dealing with, that I have had any time to devote to.’
‘Felt that heads must now roll’ ‘He was being deliberately set up’