SNP chief denies ‘plotting downfall’ of Salmond
S NP chief executive Peter M ur re ll has insisted text message she sent suggesting the police should be pressurised to investigate Alex S almond were not part of a "plot" against the former first minister.
The party boss told MSPS yesterday that Mr S almond could be "difficult and unreasonable", but that he was unaware of sexual misconduct claims in three decades working with him until charges came to light in 2017.
Mr Murrell, who is married to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, also insisted the couple did not discuss any party strategy to deal with the fallout of claims against the ex-party leader.
Text messages have come to light which were sent by Mr Murrell after criminal charges were brought against Mr Salmond, of which he was entirely cleared this year.
The S NP chief executive said it was a “good time to be pressurising” police and that the “more fronts he [Mr Salmond] is having to firefight on, the better for all complainers”.
But he told MS P Son a committee looking into the collapse of a Scottish Government internal complaints case against Mr Salmond that his words had been misinterpreted and put it down to the shock of seeing the full extent of the charges against the exfirst minister.
A jury cleared Mr S almond of all charges.
"It wasn’t about pressurising the police," he told MSPS on the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints. “There was a great deal of upset that day. The previous day, you know, I had been working with Alex for 30 years at that point, and I think we were all shocked by the scale of the charges that were brought against him.
“So there was a great deal of upset the previous day. I know myself I didn’t really sleep that night. I came to the office and everyone was… you can just imagine everyone was quite gutted.”
Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said there had been suggestions the text messages were evidence of a "plot" to ensure the downfall of Mr Salmond and put it to Mr Murrell that he "had a key role" in it.
Mr Murrell was also repeatedly questioned about whether the First Minister' s meetings with Mr S almond were on government bu siness – and therefore should have been recorded–or were about party matters.
Asked about the apparent contradiction in their evidence, he said :" I wasn' t at home and I wasn't aware of the capacity in which she was having the meetings. "Her impression of what the meeting was about altered when the discussion happened so it seemed a reasonable version of events that she set out in her written submission."
Mr Murrell told the committee he had worked with Mr Salmond since 1983, but had not spoken with him since 2017 and described their relationship as" professional ”. "He has very high expect ations," Mr Murrell said.
He went on :" He could be difficult and he could be unreasonable– but there are individuals in life who are like that.
"When you see it happening, you have to challenge it.”