The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Obstruction of witnesses ‘an outrage’
Scotland’s deputy first minister has been accused o f “unacceptable” obstruction of the Alex Salmond inquir y af ter refusing to allow two government witnesses to give evidence.
John Swinney has blocked two witnesses from appearing next week before the Holyrood committee probing the government’s botched investigation of sexual harassment allegations against the former first mi n i s t e r, provoking further ire from MSPs.
The committee had wanted to question Judith Mack innon , the investigating officer whose prior contact with two of Mr Salmond’s accusers caused the government investigation to be ruled “unlawful” and “tainted with apparent bias”.
Ms Ma c k i n n o n has previously appeared virtually before the committee but the Scottish Government requested that only the audio evidence was available to the public. The committee had also asked the government’s workforce director, Gillian Russell, to give evidence.
But Mr Swinney has written to the committee to refuse the requests, claiming it could create an “unacceptable risk” of potential identification of complainers in the court case against Mr Salmond.
Mr Salmond was acquitted of 13 charges at the High Court in Edinburgh in March.
The court case followed a
legal battle in which he was awarded more than £500,000 when the Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled a Scottish Government investigation into his conduct wa s unlawful.
In reply to Mr Swinney’s letter, committee convener Linda Fabiani said: “I find it unacceptable that you say that the S c o tt i s h
Government does not agree to two of its civil servants giving evidence to the committee because the Scottish Government has not produced a timeline and statement to accompany documentation.
“While the committee appreciates that no witness should be put in a position where they might inadvertently breach a
court undertaking or court order, it is the Scottish Government which has put its own employees in this position.”
Scottish Labour deputy leader and c o m m i tt e e member Jackie Baillie said: “This is nothing short of an outrage. This ham-fisted political interference into the work of this committee is simply unacceptable.”