Today – after the deputy First Minister John Swinney was threatened with a no-confidence vote in the Scottish Parliament – the SNP finally agreed to release its legal advice from Alex Salmond’s challenge against the government.
Mr S can see why Nicola Sturgeon wanted to keep the advice hidden…
The documents concern Salmond’s successful legal challenge against the Scottish government, after it botched an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct made against him (Salmond was later acquitted of these charges in a criminal court). In January 2019 he won his case and the Scottish government was forced to pay out half a million in costs.
Salmond now alleges that Nicola Sturgeon broke the ministerial code by refusing to settle the case earlier, if the government’s lawyers warned the First Minister that it was not wise to continue.
Today’s documents certainly show that the Scottish government’s lawyers were not happy with the way the case was handled, which comes across as a disaster from start to finish.
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