Wolffe denies Crown involvement as committee demands messages

The Lord Advocate has denied he was consulted on the decision by the Crown Office to intervene in the publication of Alex Salmond’s evidence to the harassment complaints inquiry.

Responding to an urgent question in Holyrood’s chamber on Wednesday from Scottish Labour’s Jackie Baillie, James Wolffe QC said the Crown had “no interest in interfering" with the Parliament’s business.

His declaration comes as the Holyrood inquiry investigating the botched handling of sexual harassment complaints against the former first minister decided to write to the Crown Office demanding messages referred to by Mr Salmond in his final submission.

The second use of a section 23 order, which will compel the Crown Office to provide the evidence, is understood to be a direct response to Mr Salmond’s allegations of conspiracy.

The move comes after Mr Salmond agreed to appear in front of the committee tomorrow, setting up a dramatic end to the inquiry over the next seven days.

The Lord Advocate has been invited to give evidence on monday,with the first minister to be the final witness on wednesday.

Ms Baillie asked the Lord Advocate whether he was consulted before the decision to intervene was made and whether he was made aware of the decision.

In response, Mr Wolffe said: “No I was not.”

He added: "Scotland's public prosecutors take difficult decisions that some may find unpopular."

Mr Wolffe said he received a copy of the letter sent to the parliament“for my information” after it had been sent.

However, he failed to answer a question on whether the crown Office had received any third party submissions around the issue.