Confusion over release of Salmond documents
John Swinney has claimed there has been" misrepresentation" over what documents the Scottish Government will hand over to the inquiry into the botched handling of harassment complaints against Alex Salmond.
The Deputy First Minister stressed it is not planning to release information about the "substance" of the claims about the former first minister. Instead, the Scottish Government will ask the courts for permission to release documents Mr S win ney says "relate directly to the committee's remit and to questions asked of us".
In a letter to Linda Fabiani, convener of the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints, Mr Swinney takes umbrage with the suggestion the Scottish Government would release documents. Mr Swinney wrote: "The committee has made it clear it does not wish to receive such information – a position we have understood since the outset and agree with, not least because releasing it would risk identification of the individuals who made complaints.”
In a letter to the committee, Mr Salmond's lawyer David McKie said :" We note that while such progress in relation to giving the committee sight of documents from the civil case is to be welcomed, our client remains under severe restriction, and indeed threat of prosecution, in relation to seeking to assist the committee by making reference to directly pertinent evidence which emerged as part of the criminal investigation. "
The correspondence follows confirmation from the Court of Session that it cannot provide all evi - dence sought by MSPs without a court order.