Salmond accusers ‘invited to speak in private’

TWO women who made harassment complaints against Alex Salmond will be asked to give evidence to an inquiry into the botched probe.

It is understood the complainants will be invited to speak to MSPs privately, away from the Scottish parliament.

The committee into the Scottish Government’s handling of harassment complaints is set to approach the women.

The two women made the initial complaints against the former First Minister in 2018, which led to an internal investigation by officials.

However, Mr Salmond successfully challenged the probe with a judicial review, leading to a £500,000 payout.

The Holyrood inquiry has so far spoken to a number of senior civil servants, including permanent secretary Leslie Evans.

Mr Salmond will also appear, as will Nicola Sturgeon, her husband Peter Murrell and chief of staff, Liz Lloyd.

Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: ‘It’s vital that this inquiry gives a voice to everyone who the SNP government let down by their clear failures of process.’

It is not clear how much of the women’s evidence will become public, with a redacted report likely to be released after.

There is an ongoing secrecy row between the Scottish Government and the Holyrood committee over officials’ failure to give evidence to MSPs.

Ministers have claimed legal privilege and have not handed over documents relating to the judicial review. However, the government has waived legal privilege in previous cases.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Government is taking steps to enable it to provide all the relevant information requested by the committee, so far as is possible, taking account of the confidentiality, data protection and legal restrictions that apply.’

‘Let down by clear failures’