Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Alex Salmond has declared war on Nicola Sturgeon

Alex Salmond (photo: Getty)

This is a big deal. The Times says it has had advanced sight of Alex Salmond’s evidence to a Scottish parliament inquiry on sexual harassment and it makes for uncomfortable reading for Nicola Sturgeon. The former SNP leader is allegedly accusing his one-time protege of misleading the Holyrood parliament and contravening the ministerial code. If true, that would be the end of Sturgeon’s premiership.

The inquiry stems from a botched probe into sexual harassment allegations lodged against Salmond relating to his time as Scottish First Minister. Salmond denied the accusations and took the Scottish government to the Court of Session, Scotland’s highest civil court, where Lord Pentland ruled that the investigation into him has been ‘unlawful’, ‘procedurally unfair’ and ‘tainted with apparent bias’. Central to the judge’s finding was the admission that the government’s investigator had had prior contact with Salmond’s accusers. Salmond was then tried on criminal charges of sexual assault but was cleared on all counts at the High Court in Edinburgh. It later emerged that during the criminal trial, SNP chief executive (and Sturgeon’s husband) Peter Murrell sent text messages to a senior party figure saying it was a ‘good time to be pressurising’ the police and that ‘the more fronts he is having to firefight on the better for all complainers’. However, the Crown Office says ‘there is no evidence that Mr Murrell directly or indirectly brought pressure to bear on Police Scotland in respect of this case’. Some of Salmond’s supporters believe he has been the victim of a political conspiracy.

After the Court of Session judgment, the Scottish parliament established an inquiry into how the government mishandled its investigation into Salmond. Already Sturgeon has provided written evidence and Murrell has appeared before MSPs in person.

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