The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
‘Crisis of credibility’ for inquiry after Salmond cancels, claims MSP
Alex Salmond has pulled out of today’s planned appearance before MSPS after a dramatic day left the Scottish Parliament facing a “crisis of credibility”.
The committee investigating the Scottish Government’s handling of harassment allegations against the former first minister will instead hold private talks on the future of its inquiry.
The probe was rocked yesterday after MSPS were forced to redact Mr Salmond’s evidence amid legal warnings from the Crown Office, just hours after it was published on Monday night.
A parliament spokeswoman said: “Mr Salmond has informed the committee that he will not be attending tomorrow’s meeting to give evidence.
“The committee will instead meet in private to discuss the implications of Mr Salmond’s response and the next steps for its work.”
It was reported the former SNP leader had suggested to parliament officials he could appear on Friday to testify, after there had been time to consider the changes to his submission.
Mr Salmond’s legal team had earlier demanded to be shown the legal basis for the redactions, which were agreed after an emergency meeting of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB).
In the Holyrood chamber, Labour MSP Neil Findlay described it as a “crisis for the credibility of this parliament”, as he called for the lord advocate to explain the actions of the Crown Office.
SNP politicians and Rape Crisis Scotland had previously warned that publishing the evidence could jeopardise court orders protecting the anonymity of the complainants in Mr Salmond’s trial last year, in which he was cleared of all charges.
The SPCB decided it was possible to publish the document but was immediately contacted by the Crown Office after the submission was made publicly available on Monday night.
A Scottish Parliament spokesman said: “The SPCB agreed to republish the submission in redacted form in line with representations from the Crown Office.
“We cannot comment any further on the redactions as the Crown Office has advised that its correspondence on this matter must be kept confidential.”
The Holyrood inquiry was set up to investigate the Scottish Government’s handling of harassment allegations against Mr Salmond.
It followed a Court of Session civil ruling that the process had been “unlawful” and “tainted by apparent bias”.
He was cleared of 13 charges, including sexual assault, indecent assault and attempted rape, following a trial last year.
Scottish Labour interim leader Jackie Baillie, a member of the committee, also called for Lord Advocate James Wolffe to make a statement to parliament.
“The committee must be able to see all relevant evidence if we are ever to get to the truth of the matter,” she said.
“However, it has been reported that the Crown Office wrote to the Scottish Parliament threatening the parliament with contempt of court action following the publication of Alex Salmond’s evidence.
“Given that the lord advocate is in charge of the Crown Office and a member of the government, he should be invited to come before parliament and make an urgent statement, along with the Crown Agent David Harvie.
“Given significant public interest, I have asked the presiding officer to publish the letter from the Crown Office to the parliament, so we can better understand the restrictions placed on the corporate body.”
CRACKDOWN: Elaine Zwirlein, top, Councillor Helen Wright and a multi-storey block in the Hilltown.
Increased police patrols are to be carried out in Dundee in a bid to clamp down on antisocial behaviour in multistorey flats.
A three-month trial of officers visiting Hilltown multis on foot has significantly reduced reports of anti-social behaviour, police say.
Chief Inspector Ross Fitzgerald of the Dundee division of Police Scotland said proactive patrols in the multis have seen a reduction of 99 reports compared to the same period the previous year.
He told Dundee City Council’s community safety and public protection committee that officers spoke to residents in person during patrols.
Mr Fitzgerald said: “There was a lot of positivity around this project where police were able to connect with people.”
He said that Police Scotland now planned to take aspects of the Hilltown project to other multis in Dundee.
Members of the committee were asked to consider a report that showed anti-social behaviour complaints had increased in many parts of Dundee, including Lochee and the East End.
It is not known if the ongoing coronavirus pandemic had impacted this.
Coldside councillor Helen Wright said that many people in the city had their lives devastated by anti-social behaviour.
She said: “For some people anti-social behaviour can be lifechanging, resulting in people who may have lived in their home for 20 years asking for transfers.
“We should be doing more for these people. We need to look at how we can improve people’s lives and we need to identify how we can do that.”
Councillor Wright suggested that noise was the biggest concern for most people reporting antisocial behaviour and she asked if ways to deal with this, including soundproofing walls, could be considered.
Director of neighbourhood services Elaine Zwirlein said the council preferred to try to find solutions for antisocial behaviour rather than having to transfer residents from their homes.
She said: “Since the last report, the team have been able to recommence deployment of sound recording equipment to properties where noise is continuing to be reported without any other sources of evidence.
“This is carried out without entering the properties for safety reasons and is working well.”
Ms Zwirlein said that she would be happy to look at what further could be done for residents and report back to councillors.
Her report broke down anti-social behaviour into categories which showed that noise complaints accounted for 46.97% of cases, general nuisance made up 11.31%, disturbances due to drugs accounted for 13.32% and 7.94% of complaints related to verbal abuse or threats.