Salmond inquiry warns against cover-up
THE Holyrood inquiry into the botched misconduct sexual probe against Alex Salmond has warned ministers and officials not to destroy any evidence.
At its first meeting, the cross-party group of nine MSPS said it expected all “relevant documentation retained” by the Scottish Government for its work.
It also said it expected “full cooperation” from SNP ministers and their officials.
One MSP called the “no shredding” directive a key decision by the group.
The Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment has been set up to examine the recent collapse of the Government’s misconduct probe into Mr Salmond.
The former First Minister successfully challenged the process in court, forcing ministers to admit the lead official had been in prior contact with his accusers.
That rendered the process unfair, unlawful and “tainted by apparent bias”, and left taxpayers with a £500,000 legal bill after Mr Salmond won a judicial review.
The MSPS’ committee will examine the “actions of the First Minister, Scottish Government officials and special advisers” in relation to the misconduct probe.
It will also look at Nicola Sturgeon’s secret meetings and calls with Mr Salmond during the probe, which her critics say breached the ministerial code.
The committee agreed not to hold formal hearings to avoid prejudicing the separate legal proceedings involving Mr Salmond, who last month appeared in court charged with two counts of attempted rape, nine of sexual assault, two of indecent assault and one breach of the peace. He strongly denies criminality.
The inquiry agreed to work at a low ebb until legal proceedings are over, meeting periodically and reading up on background briefings.
SNP convener Linda Fabiani said: “The committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government with its expectation of full cooperation regarding information passed to this committee, with relevant documentation retained by the Scottish Government for transmission to this committee when requested.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We will cooperate fully with the committee’s inquiry, including the provision of all relevant material – any suggestions to the contrary are wholly misplaced.”