‘Nicola didn’t tell me about Salmond, claims husband
NICOLA Sturgeon’s husband claims she did not tell him about harassment complaints against Alex Salmond despite meetings held at their home.
Peter Murrell, the SNP’s chief executive, said his wife told him she could not reveal details around the discussion with her predecessor.
Mr Murrell said he did not press his wife on the issue, and he was only made aware of the complaints in August 2018 when they became public.
The revelation was made in a submission to Holyrood’s inquiry into the government’s botched probe into complaints against Mr Salmond.
As well as facing MSPs, Miss Sturgeon must take part in a second investigation into whether she broke the ministerial code by meeting Mr Salmond while he was being investigated.
Mr Murrell said: ‘I knew about the meetings between Nicola and Alex Salmond at our home on April 2 and July 14, 2018 and I had the sense that something serious was being discussed.
‘Nicola told me she couldn’t discuss the details. The nature of Nicola’s job means that when she tells me she can’t discuss something, I don’t press it. I was not present at these meetings and made no contribution to them.’
Mr Murrell’s comments come despite Miss Sturgeon telling MSPs that her meetings with Mr Salmond had been in her ‘capacity’ as SNP leader.
He went on to claim that he only became aware of the complaints against Mr Salmond in August 2018 when they appeared in a newspaper. This was four months after Miss Sturgeon was made aware of them.
During this period, Miss Sturgeon and Mr Salmond spoke twice at her home and once at the SNP conference in Aberdeen.
Mr Murrell is set to appear in front of the Holyrood committee to be quizzed over the scandal, as will Miss Sturgeon, Mr Salmond and other key figures.
In his submission ahead of this, Mr Murrell said the SNP did not take action in relation to the complaints against Mr Salmond before they became public.
He said: ‘The only discussions would have been after the matter became public in August 2018 and in relation to the party’s response.’
Mr Murrell said he also had ‘no direct knowledge and therefore no comment’ on the development of the government’s complaint policy which allowed concerns to be raised over the behaviour of former ministers.
He also claimed that he was unaware of any time when a government minister had used their SNP email account rather than an official one to conduct business.
However, last year it emerged that Miss Sturgeon had used her
SNP account to conduct government business.
Mr Murrell said: ‘My understanding is government business is subject to Freedom of Information legislation regardless of channels it is conducted on. I assume therefore a minister or spad (special adviser) could not use party channels for government business as a way of avoiding transparency.’
In response to his submission, committee convener Linda Fabiani questioned statements made by Mr Murrell – including that he was ‘unaware’ of ministers using SNP email accounts.
Miss Fabiani has also urged Mr Murrell to advise whether any colleagues have correspondence relating to complaints against Mr Salmond. He named Miss Sturgeon, her chief of staff Liz Lloyd, SNP compliance manager Ian McCann and the party’s chief operating officer Sue Ruddick.
She set out that the inquiry is seeking minutes of meetings, notes, text and WhatsApp messages from ‘all levels of the SNP’ as well as emails.
Tory Murdo Fraser said people were being ‘expected to believe Peter Murrell thought nothing of the showdowns between Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond at their home’. He added: ‘The Sturgeon household must have the sturdiest Chinese walls in history.’