Resignations in government and SNP called for by Salmond
Scotland’s former first minister has called for the resignations of the Lord Advocate, the head of the civil service and the SNP’S chief executive over what he described as a “malicious scheme” to see him convicted for sexual assault and removed from public life.
In a marathon six-hour session yesterday in front of the Holyrood committee that is investigating how the Scottish Government lost a judicial review over its handling of sexual harassment allegations against him, Mr Salmond said the leadership of Scotland’s institutions had “failed”.
However, while he claimed there was “no doubt” Nicola Sturgeon had broken the ministerial code, he said it was not his position to say the First Minister should resign.
Mr Salmond also said while he had no “documentary evidence” to suggest she was involved in the “plan” to tarnish his reputation, he repeatedly contradicted Ms Sturgeon’s statements in Parliament over when she first knew of the allegations against him.
He told the inquiry he had
sought independence “all my political life”, but that must be “accompanied by institutions whose leadership is strong and robust and capable of protecting each and every citizen from arbitrary authority”.
Mr Salmond’s long-awaited appearance at the committee saw him lay out his belief, as previously put forward in his written evidence, that the government had failed to abide by its procedures and that its refusal to settle the harassment case before the judicial review was as a result of a hope that a criminal trial would overtake events.
Last March Mr Salmond was cleared of 13 charges of sexual assault and harassment at the High Court in Edinburgh.
He had previously defeated the government in the Court of Session over its handling of two sexual harassment complaints against him, which saw him awarded more than £500,000 of taxpayers’ money.
The court ruled the Scottish Government's investigation unlawful and said it was “tainted by apparent bias” after it emerged the investigating officer had prior contact with the women who made complaints. It has since come
THE SCOTSMAN Saturday 27 February 2021
“Scotland hasn’t failed, its leadership has failed”
“For two years and six months this has been a nightmare”
“The government acted illegally, but somehow, nobody’s to blame”
to light the government was warned it would not succeed in defending the judicial review by external legal counsel.
As a result, Mr Salmond told MSPS on the committee the Lord Advocate James Wolffe and the Permanent Secretary of the civil service, Leslie Evans, should resign.
He also said the leaking of the complaints against him being investigated by the Scottish Government to the Daily Record newspaper was “politically inspired” and a police investigation should be opened to determine who the leak was.
In his written evidence, he claimed there had been a “deliberate, prolonged, malicious and concerted effort among a range of individuals within the Scottish Government and the SNP to damage my reputation to the extent of having me imprisoned” and named SNP chief executive Peter Murrell and the party’s chief operating officer Sue Ruddick, among others.
Askedwhypeoplewouldconspire against him, Mr Salmond saidhebelievedtherewasarecognition he would win his judicial review, and a decision was made to pass the complainers’
names to the police to prevent that happening.
"I think it came to be believed among some people that the lossofthejudicialreviewwould be cataclysmic, not just for Leslieevansandseniorofficialsand special advisers, but for Nicola Sturgeon herself, and I think unfortunately, people came to the belief that the police process would somehow assist in not losing the judicial review, or making sure the loss would be swept away in the inevitable publicity of the criminal trial,” he said.
"And if I’d been convicted of any offence in the criminal trial,
that would have been the case.
"I think the people responsible for the disaster of the judicial review, in terms of the Scottish Government and Crown Office, should resign. The people I’ve named, they should all be considering their positions.
"To my knowledge Cabinet ministers thought she [Leslie Evans] should have resigned on January 8, 2018. She should have considered her position then.”
Pressedonifmsevansshould resign,hesaid:“yes,sheshould. The Lord Advocate should be
considering his position on this and a range of other issues.
“People have said there’s something wrong with them, that Scotland is almost a failed state. That’s not a view I take.
"The institutions are fundamentally sound, but there has to be some form of political responsibility, they have to be refreshed from time to time. The Scottish Government needs new leadership and so does the Crown Office. The other people I named should be facing the consequences as well.”
However, Mr Salmond stopped short at calling for the resignation of Ms Sturgeon, who is due to give evidence to the committee next week, saying it was “not for me” to decide if she should go.
Questioned by Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Colehamilton, Mr Salmond said he did not believe Ms Sturgeon had been involved in a "coverup" of complaints against him.
“I've seen it pursued on the committeethatsomehownicola Sturgeon was covering up – that's not the case, my charges against Nicola Sturgeon don't include that.”