EX-FM claims the Scottish Government is trying to ‘malign his reputation’

ALEX Salmond has accused the Scottish Government of trying to “malign his reputation” by reversing his civil court win over it.

The former first minister’s lawyer said the Government was trying to put potentially explosive material into the public domain which had already been ruled unlawful and defective.

David Mckie, of Levy & Mcrae, told the Holyrood inquiry into the Salmond affair the Government’s actions were “extraordinary” and an attempt to duck responsibility for its own failures.

If it succeeded, it would “defeat entirely the purpose and effect of the court action successfully undertaken by our client”.

Mr Mckie urged MSPS to make it clear that the inquiry did not want to be part of the “unjustifiable” attack on Mr Salmond.

The claims are made in a letter dated October 5 released by the inquiry yesterday morning.

The inquiry is looking at how the Government botched a probe into sexual misconduct claims made against Mr Salmond in 2018.

The former First Minister had the exercise set aside, or “reduced”, in a judicial review at the Court of Session, showing it had been “tainted by apparent bias”.

The Government’s mistake – it appointed a lead investigator who had been in prior contact with Mr Salmond’s accusers – left taxpayers with a £512,000 bill for his costs.

At the time, the Government gave an explicit undertaking not to share the findings of its probe, or the material behind it, without court permission or a legal compulsion.

However last month, deputy First Minister John Swinney told the inquiry the Government now planned to return to court to clarify the exact extent of that undertaking.

He said it wanted “a ruling from the Court on whether certain specific documentation which the

Scottish Government holds is, or is not, covered by that undertaking.

“The Scottish Government’s position is in favour of the release of those documents.”

Mr Salmond sees that as attempt to negate the legal victory he went through to overturn the probe.

Mr Mckie said the Government’s action raised “real concern for the integrity of the court proceedings.”

He said: “The only possible explanation for seeking to take such a step appears to our client to be a desire unjustifiably to malign his reputation, rather than account for their own unlawful actions.”

The inquiry itself has not requested the material covered by the Government undertaking.

The Scottish Government said it was “taking a range of action, including going to court, to be able to give the Committee as much documentation as possible.”

In a separate development, after the Government blocked evidence, the court service said documents from the judicial review held by the Government and Mr Salmond could be shared with the inquiry if the parties volunteered them.

There were also more documents at court the parties could retrieve and share, although some would require a court order for release.