Alex Salmond calls for investigation into Nicola Sturgeon to be expanded

It is the first time the former First Minister has made a public intervention since he walked free from court after being acquitted of a series of sexual offences charges in March.

His call was made in a bombshell email to James Hamilton, the independent adviser on the ministerial code, who is probing whether Sturgeon broke strict rules on ministers' conduct.

The First Minister triggered this investigation by referring herself to the ministerial code panel after it was claimed she had broken the rules by failing to swiftly declare three meetings and two phone calls with Salmond about harassment complaints made against him.

READ MORE: Alex Salmond wants Nicola Sturgeon to be investigated for misleading parliament

In his letter to Hamilton, Salmond says he wants the inquiry to examine if the First Minister misled parliament, whether she failed to act on legal advice suggesting her Government was at risk of unlawful behaviour and whether she failed the ensure civil servants gave truthful information to parliament.

"What I wish to know is whether matters which, by contrast, are specified in the Ministerial code such as the primary responsibility of not misleading Parliament
(contrary to 1.3 (c) of the code), such as the failure to act on legal advice suggesting the Government was at risk of behaving unlawful (contrary to 2.30 of the code), and such as the ministerial failure to ensure civil servants gave truthful information to parliament (contrary to 1.3 (e) of the code) will have at least equal status in your deliberations or are you confined to the political remit which you have been set? " he writes.

"If your enquiry has been confined by ministers then please tell me if you have the authority to expand that remit unilaterally? If not, will you seek the authority of those in the Scottish Government who set the remit to expand it into these, and other, areas?" 

Salmond also sent a copy of the email to the Holyrood committee set up to probe the Scottish Government's botched handling of harassment complaints against him.

The committee which is continuing to take evidence published the former First Minister's email to Hamilton last night.

Hamilton, a former director of public prosecutions in Ireland, has the power to interview any minister or official in the Scottish Government and examine documents related to the meetings and discussions between Sturgeon and Salmond.

The former First Miniser also raised a number of further issues in his email to Hamilton.

They include:

* Demanding senior civil servant James Hynd, who has been tasked with responsibility for leading support to Hamilton's enquiry, not have this role. Salmond says Hynd was "deeply involved in the Scottish Government’s unlawful complaints procedure". He adds: "I do not dispute Mr Hynd’s personal integrity although I note he was forced to write to the Committee to correct an impression he had unwittingly given about me in his evidence."

* Criticising the Crown Office for threatening his lawyers with prosecution and asking Hamilton will he be at the same risk. Salmond says: "You may also be aware that my solicitors have been informed by letter from the Crown Office that if they present or even describe to the Parliamentary Committee information gained in disclosure in the criminal proceedings they will be liable to prosecution. I am
happy to provide you with this letter if you wish. Please confirm if this threat applies to your enquiry because there are indeed relevant documents under this restriction."

In a letter published yesterday Barbara Allison, the Scottish Government's director of communications, said she did receive a text from civil service chief Leslie Evans which stated "we may have lost the battle, but we will win the war" on the day of Salmond's  successful legal case against the Scottish Government - having last month told the committee she did not get it.

Allison insisted she had answered Labour's Jackie Baillie, who had posed the question about the text, "to the best of my recollection" when she initially gave evidence on September 15 and pointed to the message being dated more than  18 months ago.

In her letter, she told MSPs she wanted to “correct the unintended inaccuracy in my previous statement”.

READ MORE: Alex Salmond inquiry: Top civil servant admits she did get 'win the war' text

She said a search by the Crown Office relating to material gathered for the former First Minister's trial this Spring found she had received the text while on holiday in the Maldives. Salmond was acquitted of all charges.

The search found the message was sent to Allison from Evans on January 8 2019 - the day Salmond won his judicial review against the Government.

The message and reply read: "L Evans: ‘Thanks Barbara – battle maybe lost but not the war. Hope you are having lovely & well deserved break. L’

"B Allison ‘Thanks Leslie. It is lovely here. My mind and thoughts are with you all there tho. Best wishes. Bx"

Supporters of Salmond believe the text by Evans shows there was a conspiracy against Salmond orchestrated to stop his return to frontline politics and threatening Sturgeon's position. The First Minister has described the claims as a "heap of nonsense".

Evans last month told the inquiry there was nothing “conspiratorial” about the message, and insisted: “I was not referring to any individual when I sent that text. I was referring to a long-term commitment of mine.. to ensure equality [in the Government]”.

However, Allison undermined Evans’s account when she appeared before the committee for a second time yesterday, by saying she had understood the “battle” to refer specifically to Salmond’s case.

The Holyrood committee is investigating the Scottish Government's botched probe into sexual misconduct complaints against Salmond. The internal probe was ruled to be unlawful and cost the taxpayer more than £500,000.

After the government admitted in court that its investigation had been unlawful due to a procedural flaw - the First Minister ordered the independent investigation into her own conduct.

She said she had not interfered in the investigation, and was confident that she had "acted appropriately and in good faith throughout, and in compliance with the ministerial code".

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We are aware of the contents of Mr Salmond's letter. The remit of Mr Hamilton's work is well established, and was set out to the Parliament by the deputy first minister.”

A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: "As a matter of law, information disclosed in criminal proceedings cannot be used or disclosed for any other purpose. The Lord Advocate or COPFS cannot provide information held for a prosecution for other purposes without a legal basis, which would ordinarily be an order of the court."