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SNP chief Peter Murrell faces Holyrood Salmond inquiry SNP chief denies 'plotting downfall' of Alex Salmond
(about 2 hours later)
Peter Murrell said Nicola Sturgeon did not tell him what was discussed when she met with Alex Salmond at their home Peter Murrell told MSPs he had had "very few" concerns about Alex Salmond's behaviour across four decades of working with him
SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has been questioned by MSPs investigating the government's botched handling of complaints against Alex Salmond. SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has insisted that claims he was part of a plot to ensure the downfall of Alex Salmond are "not true".
Mr Murrell - husband of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon - was the latest witness to face the Holyrood inquiry. Mr Murrell - husband of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon - was giving evidence to a Holyrood inquiry into the handling of complaints against Mr Salmond.
He was pressed by members about meetings Ms Sturgeon held with her predecessor in their Glasgow home. He insisted Ms Sturgeon had not told him any details about her meetings with Mr Salmond at their home in Glasgow.
The SNP chief also faced questions over text messages he sent about the police investigation of Mr Salmond. He said they had "very limited personal time" together due to her job.
But he has insisted there is a proper separation between the SNP and the formal processes of the Scottish government, and that the party is cooperating fully with the inquiry. The SNP chief was also questioned about text messages he sent about the police investigation of Mr Salmond, and insisted that he there had been "no pressure" put on officers.
How is Holyrood's Alex Salmond inquiry going?How is Holyrood's Alex Salmond inquiry going?
Salmond complainers 'reluctant' to go to policeSalmond complainers 'reluctant' to go to police
Salmond inquiry getting 'very few clear answers'Salmond inquiry getting 'very few clear answers'
The Holyrood inquiry was set up to review the government's handling of internal complaints against Mr Salmond after he successfully raised a legal challenge against its investigation processes.The Holyrood inquiry was set up to review the government's handling of internal complaints against Mr Salmond after he successfully raised a legal challenge against its investigation processes.
The government was forced to pay the former first minister more than £500,000 in legal expenses after it conceded its approach had been "unlawful" due to a procedural flaw.The government was forced to pay the former first minister more than £500,000 in legal expenses after it conceded its approach had been "unlawful" due to a procedural flaw.
The committee is now reaching its final hearings, with both Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon due to give evidence in the coming weeks - although members have repeatedly complained that their work is being hindered by "obstruction" and "obfuscation" by key players.The committee is now reaching its final hearings, with both Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon due to give evidence in the coming weeks - although members have repeatedly complained that their work is being hindered by "obstruction" and "obfuscation" by key players.
Mr Murrell has been chief executive of the SNP since 2000, and married to Ms Sturgeon since 2010. Ms Sturgeon held a meeting with Mr Salmond at the Glasgow home she shares with Mr Murrell in April 2018, when she says she learned of the detail of the complaints against her predecessor.
He will give evidence on Tuesday morning in his role as an SNP official - but as the first minister's husband, he was aware of the meetings Ms Sturgeon held with Mr Salmond at their Glasgow home in April and July of 2018. Mr Murrell, who has been chief executive of the SNP since 2000 and married to Ms Sturgeon since 2010, told MSPs that he was at work at the time of the meeting.
In his written submission, he said he "had the sense that something serious was being discussed", but that "Nicola told me she couldn't discuss the details". And he said he had known not to press his wife for details because of her role as first minister.
He also said he had "no direct knowledge of and therefore no comment to make" about the government's complaints-handling policy, the judicial review hearing raised by Mr Salmond or the culture within the Scottish government.
The Scottish government was forced to pay Alex Salmond more than £500,000 in legal costsThe Scottish government was forced to pay Alex Salmond more than £500,000 in legal costs
Mr Murrell made a second written submission to the committee in October, in part in response to questions about text messages he sent in January 2019. When told by Lib Dem Alex Cole-Hamilton that this was "hard to believe", the SNP chief said the life of a first minister was "up early in the morning, back late at night, lots happening in between - very limited time at home, very limited personal time".
The messages were sent after Mr Salmond was charged with sexual assault - charges he was ultimately acquitted of after a High Court trial. He added: "When you are married to the first minister, who is privy to lots of information, when she says she can't talk about something you don't continue to say 'ah, but'. It just doesn't happen.
"She's been a minister for a long time and works very hard, every day and every weekend - when we get precious time together the last thing we want to be doing is re-running days with each other.
"When she says she can't talk about something, that's the end of it, and we move on to something else - like what book she's reading, or what I'm making her for her tea."
Mr Murrell was pressed repeatedly about whether the meetings between Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond were SNP or government business.
He responded by saying the committee could ask the first minister directly when she appears before them in person.
'Very few' concerns
Mr Murrell said he had worked with Mr Salmond since the early 1980s, and had had "very few" concerns about his behaviour over the years.
He said Mr Salmond "had very high expectation and could be difficult" and "unreasonable", but said there had been "nothing of any sexual misconduct nature".
He said they had a "professional" relationship, but had not spoken since the 2017 election where Mr Salmond lost his Westminster seat.
Asked if the former first minister had been "hard done by", the SNP chief replied: "I think complaints came forward and they had to be investigated and looked at - by political parties, by the government, by the police. Those are proper processes to have happened with concerns that are brought forward."
Peter Murrell said Nicola Sturgeon is afforded "very limited personal time" as first minister
Mr Murrell was also pressed about text messages he sent in January 2019, the day after Mr Salmond was charged with sexual assault - charges he was ultimately acquitted of following a High Court trial.
One message suggested that "folk should be asking the police questions", and that it was a "good time to be pressurising them", while another said that "the more fronts he [Mr Salmond] is having to firefight on the better".One message suggested that "folk should be asking the police questions", and that it was a "good time to be pressurising them", while another said that "the more fronts he [Mr Salmond] is having to firefight on the better".
Mr Murrell admitted that "I did not express myself well", but insisted that "the messages have been presented in a way that suggests a meaning that they do not in reality have". Mr Murrell said he could "see that the language I used was open to misinterpretation", saying there had been "a great deal of upset that day".
The SNP chief said the texts had been "sent the day after Mr Salmond had been charged with a number of serious offences", and reflected "the shock, hurt and upset" felt by himself and others in the party. He insisted that there "was no pressure" put on police, adding: "We were all shocked by the scale of the charges that were being brought against him. You can imagine everyone was quite gutted.
He said the first text was intended to "advise that questions be addressed to the police and not the SNP", while the second was saying "that any and all complaints should be appropriately investigated". "Reflecting on the messages now they seem quite out of character it shows just how upset I was at the time.
Ms Sturgeon has also faced questions about the messages, with supporters of Mr Salmond including SNP MP Kenny MacAskill calling for action to be taken. Mr MacAskill claimed he was sent evidence of the texts in an anonymous letter. "The context was that some people that had raised concerns had questions, they were seeking answers to things that only the police or Crown Office could answer."
Asked about them at first minister's questions in October, Ms Sturgeon said the police were investigating how the messages were leaked - and said the inquiry should "call the people who the messages are purported to come from and ask them the questions". Asked about the text referring to Mr Salmond "having to firefight" on multiple fronts, Mr Murrell said: "I think I've worried - I worry all the time about this still - I worry about the women. That's what that's about."
Asked by Labour MSP Jackie Baillie whether the texts were evidence that he was "part of a plot to ensure the downfall of Alex Salmond", Mr Murrell said "no, it's not true - of course it's not true".
He said: "The timeline would say no, because he had been charged by the time I sent those messages. All complainers had come forward by that point, the police had charged him, and he had appeared in court."