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Alex Salmond claims 'Scotland's leadership has failed' Alex Salmond says there is 'no doubt' Nicola Sturgeon broke ministerial code
(about 2 hours later)
Mr Salmond criticises the leadership of the civil service, the Crown Office and Scottish governmentMr Salmond criticises the leadership of the civil service, the Crown Office and Scottish government
Alex Salmond has claimed that "Scotland's leadership has failed" as he made his long-awaited appearance at a Scottish Parliament inquiry. Alex Salmond said he had "no doubt" that Nicola Sturgeon had breached the ministerial code.
The former first minister has previously accused people close to his successor Nicola Sturgeon of plotting against him. The former first minister was speaking as he made his long-awaited appearance at a Scottish Parliament inquiry.
The inquiry is examining the Scottish government's botched handling of sexual assault allegations against him. Mr Salmond gave an account to the committee of meetings he had with Ms Sturgeon that appeared to contradict her version of events.
Mr Salmond was cleared of 13 charges of sexual assault after a trial last year. But he said it was not for him to say whether Ms Sturgeon should resign if she was found to have broken the code.
As he started his evidence session at the inquiry, he said no one had yet taken responsibility for his "nightmare" over the past three years. Ms Sturgeon denies breaching the code, and has accused Mr Salmond of making "wild" conspiracy theories that are untrue.
He said the Scottish government had been found to have "acted illegally" during its investigation into the allegations against him, but "somehow nobody is to blame". The inquiry is examining the Scottish government's botched handling of harassment allegations against Mr Salmond.
And he alleged that there had been a "deliberate suppression of information inconvenient to the government" throughout the saga. The government admitted it had acted unlawfully during its investigation into the initial complaints from two female civil servants after Mr Salmond launched a judicial review case, and had to pay his legal fees of more than £500,000.
Follow live coverage of Mr Salmond's evidence Mr Salmond was later cleared of 13 charges of sexual assault against a total of nine women after a separate trial at the High Court last year.
What is the Salmond and Sturgeon row all about?What is the Salmond and Sturgeon row all about?
Could Alex Salmond bring down Nicola Sturgeon?Could Alex Salmond bring down Nicola Sturgeon?
The Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon storyThe Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon story
Mr Salmond added: "The failures of leadership are many and obvious but not a single person has taken responsibility, not a single resignation or sacking, not even admonition. He had previously accused people close to Ms Sturgeon - his successor as both first minister and SNP leader - of plotting against him, and has named Ms Sturgeon's husband, SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, of being one of them.
"The Scottish civil service has not failed, its leadership has. The Crown Office has not failed, its leadership has failed. Mr Salmond told the committee that he had been given a memory stick in the build up to his criminal trial that contained messages which involved "pressuring police", "collusion of witnesses" and "construction of evidence because police were felt to be inadequate in finding it themselves".
"Scotland hasn't failed, its leadership has failed." He said he would "dearly love to provide" more detail about the messages - but was unable to do so because he was "under an injunction" that could see him prosecuted for revealing evidence that was given to him as part of the criminal proceedings.
Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon were close political allies for decades - but are now embroiled in a bitter war of wordsMr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon were close political allies for decades - but are now embroiled in a bitter war of words
Mr Salmond also said he was "severely hampered" in what he could say during the session due to the "explicit threat of prosecution if I reveal evidence for which the committee has asked". Asked what the motivation would be for a plot against him, Mr Salmond said some in the Scottish government saw the judicial review case as a "huge, looming, enormous and difficult problem".
Some of his written evidence was redacted on the request of the Crown Office earlier this week after it had already been published in full by the Scottish Parliament. He said the potential impact on Ms Sturgeon of a "disastrous" defeat in the civil case meant "it became very important that the criminal case overtook the judicial review".
Asked by Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser whether he believed the House of Commons would accept a call from the Crown Prosecution Service in England to redact a committee document, Mr Salmond said "the straight answer is no". A spokeswoman for the government said it had a "duty to investigate the serious and specific complaints against Alex Salmond and was right to do so".
His written submissions included claims that there had been a "deliberate, prolonged, malicious and concerted effort" by various people within the Scottish government and the SNP to "damage my reputation, even to the extent of having me imprisoned". She added: "As set out in detailed evidence to the committee, all government decisions were informed by legal advice and taken in line with the Civil Service Code."
Those named by Mr Salmond included Ms Sturgeon's husband, Peter Murrell, who is the chief executive of the SNP. Part of the written evidence submitted by Mr Salmond ahead of the committee meeting was removed on the request of the Crown Office earlier this week after it had already been published in full by the Scottish Parliament.
Mr Salmond's written evidence also directly took aim at Ms Sturgeon, accusing her of "repeatedly" misleading parliament about her involvement in the row and of breaching the ministerial code. The submissions included claims that Mr Sturgeon misled parliament over when she first learned of the allegations against her former political mentor.
And he claimed there had been a "complete breakdown of the necessary barriers which should exist between government, political party and indeed the prosecution authorities".
Mr Salmond was cleared of all 13 charges of sexual assault against a total of nine women after a High Court trial in March of last yearMr Salmond was cleared of all 13 charges of sexual assault against a total of nine women after a High Court trial in March of last year
Ms Sturgeon initially told parliament she had not learned of the complaints until she was informed by Mr Salmond on 2 April 2018.
However, she later claimed to have "forgotten" about an earlier meeting in her Scottish Parliament office on 29 March of that year, when she was told about the allegations by Mr Salmond's former chief of staff Geoff Aberdein.
Look back on Alex Salmond's committee evidence
Mr Salmond told the committee that if Ms Sturgeon had truly forgotten about the meeting, she should have corrected the record when she did remember.
But he said Ms Sturgeon had only admitted that the meeting had taken place after details of it were revealed 18 months later by Sky News.
He also said there was "no doubt" that the meeting with Mr Aberdein and subsequent meetings between Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon in her home were about government matters rather than SNP business, as she has claimed.
Ms Sturgeon denies breaching the code, and says any suggestions of a plot against Mr Salmond are untrue
This could potentially be another breach of the code, which says all government business and meetings should be recorded - but none of them were.
Ms Sturgeon has also been accused of potentially breaching the code by allowing the government to continue opposing a civil court case brought by Mr Salmond over its handling of the initial complaints against him from two female civil servants.
Mr Salmond has alleged that the government was given legal advice that it was unlikely to win the case on 31 October 2018 - but did not concede defeat until January of the following year.
Mr Salmond said: "I believe the first minister has broken the ministerial code. It is not the case that every minister who breaks the code must resign - it depends on what is found.
"I have no doubt Nicola has broken the ministerial code, but it's not for me to decide what the consequences should be."
A separate inquiry headed by Irish lawyer James Hamilton is specifically looking at whether Ms Sturgeon breached the code, which states that any minister who deliberately misleads parliament would be expected to resign.
Mr Salmond said he was due to be interviewed by Mr Hamilton next week.
The inquiry committee has been badly delayed, with some members claiming it has faced deliberate obstruction from both the government and Mr Salmond
The marathon evidence session - which lasted six hours - also saw Mr Salmond claim that the leadership of the Scottish government, civil service and Crown Office prosecution service had "failed".
He said no one had taken responsibility for the "nightmare" he had been put through, and said the country's top civil servant, Lesley Evans should quit, and that head of the Crown Office, Lord Advocate James Wolffe, should consider his position.
And he alleged that there had been a "deliberate suppression of information inconvenient to the government" throughout the saga.
Mr Salmond also said he did not believe the House of Commons would accept a call from the Crown Prosecution Service in England to change a committee document, as the Scottish Parliament had done in response to the Crown Office request.
He said he had "no incentive or advantage in revisiting the hurt and shock of the last three years".
But he added: "We can't turn the page or move on until the decision-making which is undermining the system of government in Scotland is addressed."
He said the country's "move to independence" - which he has campaigned for throughout his political life - "must be accompanied by institutions whose leadership is strong and robust and capable of protecting each and every citizen from arbitrary authority".
The last six hours have been detailed. Alex Salmond's complaints are numerous. But stand back from it for a second.
The former First Minister of Scotland has just accused his successor of breaking the ministerial code - and left open the door for her having to resign as a result.
He has said Scotland's most senior civil servant should quit - and that its most senior lawyer should consider his position.
Nicola Sturgeon's allies will argue he has not provided evidence for his claims of a plot against him.
But Ms Sturgeon will face huge questions when she appears before MSPs next week - some of the most difficult she has faced in her career.
Ms Sturgeon has denied there was any conspiracy against Mr Salmond, and has said she is "relishing" the prospect of giving evidence to the committee next week.Ms Sturgeon has denied there was any conspiracy against Mr Salmond, and has said she is "relishing" the prospect of giving evidence to the committee next week.
Answering questions from journalists at her daily coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, she said: "I don't think there is a shred of evidence behind those allegations and the claims that have been made" by Mr Salmond.Answering questions from journalists at her daily coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, she said: "I don't think there is a shred of evidence behind those allegations and the claims that have been made" by Mr Salmond.
She claimed that Mr Salmond had created an "alternative reality in which the organs of the state - not just me, the SNP and the civil service and the Crown Office and the police and women who came forward - were all part of some wild conspiracy against him for reasons I can't explain".She claimed that Mr Salmond had created an "alternative reality in which the organs of the state - not just me, the SNP and the civil service and the Crown Office and the police and women who came forward - were all part of some wild conspiracy against him for reasons I can't explain".
And she added: "Maybe that's easier than just accepting that at the root of all this might just have been issues in his own behaviour."And she added: "Maybe that's easier than just accepting that at the root of all this might just have been issues in his own behaviour."
'Hurt and shock' "The Lord Advocate will appear before the committee next week to assist in public understanding of his role, and the actions of the Crown Office in relation to this case."
The Holyrood session with Mr Salmond, which began at 12:30, had been delayed on several occasions. A spokesman for the Crown Office said it "takes seriously our responsibility to uphold the law and to protect the dignity and rights of all those who come into contact" with it.
As he made his opening statement, Mr Salmond said he had "watched in astonishment" on Wednesday as Ms Sturgeon "used a Covid press conference to effectively question the result of a jury". He added: "Scotland's prosecutors have acted independently and in the public interest at all times when considering matters related to this case."
He added: "I said nothing - well today that changes."
Mr Salmond said he had "no incentive or advantage in revisiting the hurt and shock of the last three years".
But he added: "We can't turn the page or move on until the decision-making which is undermining the system of government in Scotland is addressed."
He said the country's "move to independence" - which he has campaigned for throughout his political life - "must be accompanied by institutions whose leadership is strong and robust and capable of protecting each and every citizen from arbitrary authority".
There has been a lot of detail in this session so far. Mr Salmond's criticisms are broad.
But perhaps the most extraordinary so far was his attack on leaders of Scotland's key institutions - saying that they had failed.
Not only that, but he thinks Scotland needs robust institutions if it is to become independent - something he has fought for his entire public life.
He made not have said it explicitly, but some will see that as a suggestion that is not possible under the current leadership - a claim bound to cause damage ten weeks from a crucial Scottish parliament election.
Mr Salmond led the SNP for a total of 20 years and was first minister for seven years before being succeeded in both roles by Ms Sturgeon - who had previously been his deputy and protege.
But the two have become embroiled in an increasingly bitter war of words that has divided the SNP and the wider independence movement.
Asked about how the initial complaints against him came to be published in the Daily Record newspaper, Mr Salmond said he believed there had been a "politically inspired" leak from the government.
And he called for the police to investigate how the information became public, saying it was a "hugely serious matter".
A probe by the Information Commissioner's Office previously found no hard evidence of the leak coming from within government, but said it had "some sympathy" with the idea.
Meanwhile, Labour's Jackie Baillie asked Mr Salmond if the name of one of the complainers in his criminal trial had been shared with his former chief of staff while a meeting with Nicola Sturgeon was being arranged.
This echoed a question the MSP had put to Ms Sturgeon at Holyrood on Thursday, with the first minister saying that "to the best of my knowledge I do not think that happened".
However Mr Salmond said the disclosure had taken place, adding that there were "three other people who know that to be true".
He later said he believed the name of a complainer "came up" during a meeting on 2 April 2018 during a meeting with Ms Sturgeon in her Glasgow home.
What is the inquiry looking at?
The inquiry committee has been badly delayed, with some members claiming it has faced deliberate obstruction from both the government and Mr Salmond
The cross-party committee of MSPs was set up after the Scottish government admitted its internal investigation into harassment complaints from two female civil servants against Mr Salmond had been unlawful.
The admission resulted in the government having to pay Mr Salmond's legal expenses of more than £500,000.
A separate inquiry is examining whether Ms Sturgeon breached the ministerial code - which sets out how government ministers should behave - by interfering with the civil service investigation into the allegations, or by lying to parliament.
The code states that any minister who breaches the code by deliberately misleading parliament would be expected to resign.