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
