SALMOND BIDS FOR WOMEN’S VOTES WITH FEMINIST POLICIES
‘Safe spaces’ and new feminist policies Female-only party conference planned Attempt to shake off claims over his conduct
ALEX Salmond’s new party is launching a determined bid to appeal to women – as the former First Minister seeks to distance himself from sexual misconduct allegations.
The Alba Party has committed to ‘gender-proofing’ all of its policies and putting women at the ‘front and centre’ of key decisions.
It will produce a women and equalities policy, currently being drafted by lawyer and Alba candidate Eva Comrie.
This will be discussed on April 10, when the party will hold its first ‘women-only’ conference.
A notice on Alba’s website states that the event will be open to any woman and will be a ‘safe space’ away from men.
It reads: ‘Any woman can join in to listen to our discussions which will cover gender-proofing all our policies to ensure women are front and centre in all our policy considerations. This will be an all-women, safe space event.’
Mr Salmond’s assurances to keep women safe are despite many critics – including the current First Minister – accusing him of being unfit to stand again as an MSP because of previous ‘inappropriate behaviour’ that he has admitted to engaging in.
He was cleared of all sexual assault charges against nine women in a criminal trial but has to having a ‘sleepy cuddle’ with a civil servant.
He was described in court as a ‘bully and a creep’.
But on Friday, Mr Salmond maintained his innocence and said that the country needed to accept the findings of the High Court.
He said: ‘We have to accept what has been said by the courts, by the judges, by the juries, by the inquiries and we have to move on.’
He added: ‘There’s a reason for having court judgments and going to court, and that is to establish things. There is a reason we have juries in this country and there is a reason for having charges and being able to answer them.
‘The verdict kind of matters – it matters not just to me, it matters to any democratic society.’
Yesterday, Ms Sturgeon repeated concerns about her former mentor’s return to public office.
She said: ‘I take no pleasure whatsoever in saying this but I think there are significant questions about the appropriateness of his return to public office given the concerns that have been raised about his behaviour previously – but that’s for voters to judge and decide. This is an election, we live in a democracy.’
At Friday’s Alba Party launch, Mr Salmond was keen to put the allegations behind him, although he repeatedly refused to apologise for his past conduct.
Instead, he said he believed the party would attract some ‘substantial women’ candidates.
So far, Ms Comrie, Corri Wilson and Cynthia Guthrie have all defected from the SNP to join.
Ms Comrie specialises in family and child law, while Ms Wilson is a former MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock.
Ms Guthrie is a company director who has worked in finance, health, defence and the media.
Mr Salmond may also attract support from other women in the SNP who are concerned about the Nationalists’ stance on gender identity. The Scottish Government – including Ms Sturgeon herself – has backed calls to reform the Gender Recognition Act, which many hope will make it easier for people to swap gender.
However, a number of highprofile women in the SNP have voiced concern about the changes, fearing they will erode their ‘sexbased rights’ codified in the 2010 Equality Act.
Critics include MP Joanna Cherry, QC, and Joan McAlpine.
However, it is not suggested that either will defect to the Alba Party.
One former outspoken SNP critic of gender reform is Chris McEleny, who was among the first batch of candidates announced by Mr Salmond at the Alba launch.
It is likely that the women-only conference will see candidates and other party supporters discuss the controversial and charged issue of gender reform.
Mr Salmond resigned from the SNP in August 2018 while allegations about his conduct were investigated.
In January the following year, he was charged with 14 sexual assault offences – including one attempted rape – said to have been carried out against nine women, all current or former Scottish Government officials or SNP politicians.
He was cleared of all charges in March last year.
On Saturday, Ms Comrie will present a paper on women and equalities to other candidates for approval.
It is a matter close to her heart. In her introductory statement on Friday, she told supporters: ‘As a woman and as a lawyer, you might understand that I’ve been a little disappointed that equalities policies have not been as positive as they might have been.
‘I intend to continue to campaign on that topic and I will be delivering a policy paper on equalities.’
Once approved, the paper will be discussed at the upcoming women’s conference.
A party spokesman said the event would be ‘inspiring, engaging and empowering’.
He added: ‘Alba Party looks forward to a positive election campaign and securing a supermajority for independence in our parliament.
‘That outcome is key to achieving a just, fair and equal Scotland.’
‘Discussions will include gender-proofing policies’