Concerns about Alex Salmond’s behaviour were ‘an open secret’
TWO women who lodged official harassment complaints against Alex Salmond have told a Holyrood inquiry concerns about his behaviour were an ‘open secret’.
On Monday, MSPs heard from the women in an evidence session held in private to protect their identity.
According to a source close to the committee, the complainants told the committee in the three-hour session that concerns over the former First Minister’s behaviour were well known about by those working in government.
The revelations come after further conclusions from a draft report of the Holyrood inquiry investigating the botched handling of complaints against Mr Salmond were leaked.
This included a further accusation that Miss Sturgeon misled the inquiry – with MSPs saying it is ‘hard to believe’ she had no prior knowledge of inappropriate behaviour by Mr Salmond before November 2017.
‘If she had knowledge she should have acted’
A conclusion, passed by a majority of MSPs on the committee will say: ‘If she did have such knowledge, then she should have acted upon it. If she did have such knowledge, she has misled the committee.’
A source told the Mail: ‘They spoke about it being an open secret, generally the behaviour of Salmond.’
Last night the women said they would be lodging a formal complaint over the leak of information from the committee.
In a statement, the complainants said: ‘We gave evidence to the committee in private, on agreement that members would respect our confidentiality, including by not commenting publicly on our evidence outwith their official report.
‘It is extremely upsetting that this confidentiality has been breached – particularly after we had impressed on the committee our concerns about some members’ politicisation of our experiences. To selectively comment on our evidence also risks misrepresenting it. We will be making a formal complaint.’
Miss Sturgeon has admitted that Mr Salmond was a ‘tough guy’ to work for and that if he was ‘displeased with you, he would make that pretty obvious’.
She has admitted to challenging that behaviour when she ‘witnesses situations where I thought that he had crossed a line or was perhaps risking doing so’.
Speaking at the inquiry she said: ‘One of the things that I have thought about is whether those of us who had worked very closely with Alex for a long time had become a bit inured to that kind of behaviour’. She said she was not referring to sexual allegations.
Previously Miss Sturgeon told the inquiry she had been left ‘harincident bouring a lingering suspicion’ there were ‘issues in relation to Mr Salmond’ which could be raised after an approach from Sky News in November 2017. The broadcaster contacted officials over an alleged at Edinburgh Airport. The Holyrood inquiry has previously heard of complaints over the ex-SNP leader’s behaviour.
Last year, senior official James Hynd said he had been aware of concerns about Mr Salmond. Speaking to MSPs, he said that ‘things were said’ but that it was mainly ‘scuttlebutt and rumours’.
In evidence to the committee, union bosses also revealed that concerns had been raised about bullying behaviour from the former First Minister’s office.
Last night a Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We cannot comment on evidence given in private and which we have not seen or heard.’
A Scottish Parliament spokesman said: ‘The committee took evidence in private from the two women who made complaints under the Scottish Government harassment complaints procedure. The committee is grateful to them for sharing their experiences and will use these to help inform its recommendations to improve the process for other women.’
The spokesman added: ‘This evidence will be reflected in the committee’s report.’
‘Scuttlebutt and rumours’