Serial critic Sillars defends his former leader's actions

ONE of Alex Salmond's most pungent critics has defended the former first minister's decision to resign from the party and use a crowdfunder appeal to take the Scottish Government to court.

Jim Sillars, who was Mr Salmond's SNP deputy in the early 1990s but is now a frequent critic, said the former leader deserved respect for his record.

He said his resignation from the SNP was “the right thing to do” as it took Nicola Sturgeon “off the hook” of having to respond to opposition calls to suspend him.

Mr Sillars said: “He did Nicola and the party a great favour.”

Despite having five pensions and a show on a Kremlin-backed TV channel, Mr Salmond was not a wealthy man, Mr Sillars said.

It was therefore legitimate for him to crowdfund his judicial review at the Court of Session, especially, as he also faces the Scottish Government's costs if he loses.

He said SNP members did not see it as a fight between Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon, but one between Mr Salmond and the administration overseen by Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans.

He said: “It's perfectly legitimate for Alex to ask the party that he has served so well over the years for help, and the response from people shows their regard for him.

“The fact is that Alex and I have disagreed over the years both over policy and how to run the party, but you can't take away the service that he has given to the independence movement.”

However Mr Sillars also rebuked Noel Dolan, a former special adviser to both Mr Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon as first minister, who said Ms Evans should quit if Mr Salmond won his judicial review action.

Mr Dolan, who is now retired from the Scottish Government, told the Sunday Herald: “I have known Alex Salmond for over 35 years and I've never seen any inappropriate behaviour, nor have I heard any allegations of sexual harassment prior to [last] Friday morning.

“I expect Mr Salmond to be cleared of these allegations, and when that happens I hope Leslie Evans, the Permanent Secretary, will consider her position and resign.”

Mr Sillars said it was far too early in the process to start talking about resignations, before anything had been examined at the Court of Session.

He said: “My advice to Noel Dolan is wait until we know the full facts and the full judgment before talking about anyone resigning their job.”

In previous years, Mr Sillars has condemned the “cult of personality” in the SNP around first Mr Salmond and then Ms Sturgeon.

In 2012, he also accused Mr Salmond of creating a “totalitarian” party that quashed internal dissent and had become “intellectually dumb” as a consequence.