THE probe into the Scottish Government’s handling of harassment allegations against Alex Salmond is “in crisis,” one of the inquiry’s senior members has warned.
LibDem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton warned that the credibility of the committee is “on the line”.
His comment comes after the decision to withhold Salmond’s submission to James Hamilton’s investigation into whether or not Nicola Sturgeon broke the ministerial code, despite nearly all of the document being in the public domain.
But the committee have said they cannot publish the submission because it needs to “comply with relevant court orders”.
Effectively that means Salmond cannot discuss it when he gives evidence, and that the committee cannot consider what it says when writing up their final report.
The former First Minister is due in front of the inquiry on Tuesday, but has said he will now need to consult with advisers.
The cross-party committee is investigating the Scottish Government’s flawed probe into allegations of misconduct made against Salmond by two civil servants.
He had the exercise set aside in January 2019, with a judicial review declaring it “unlawful” and “tainted by bias”. The Government’s botched handling ultimately cost the taxpayer more than half a million pounds.
READ MORE: Why it’s time for the for the former First Minister to graciously bow out
At a later criminal case the former SNP leader was found not guilty on 12 charges of sexual assault.
Cole-Hamilton called for an urgent meeting of the committee to discuss the decision.
“We’re unable to publish a key submission of evidence from Mr Salmond, but that does not mean he is prohibited from referring to its contents on Tuesday,” he tweeted.
The MSP added: “The credibility of our committee is on the line. If we are to get to the bottom of why the Government failed the women at the heart of this, then we must hear from the subject of its investigation.”
However, while Cole-Hamilton’s call for a meeting was supported by Tory and Labour members, it was ultimately rejected, with SNP convener Linda Fabiani calling it “impractical”.
The inquiry must finish its work within weeks to give the Scottish Government time to respond before the election campaign begins at the end of March.
The committee has organised another meeting for Monday where they will quiz SNP chief executive Peter Murrell.
The party boss – who is married to Nicola Sturgeon – has been criticised over previous evidence given under oath to the Holyrood committee.
Last December, he told MSPs he was not aware of text and WhatsApp messages regarding allegations against Salmond. However, it has since emerged that messages do exist.
Murrell then wrote to the committee to clarify. “I do not use WhatsApp. There are several messaging apps on my phone that I don’t use.”
There are likely to be further questions over the nature of meetings between Sturgeon and Salmond held in the couple’s Glasgow home.
Sturgeon said meetings were party business while Murrell told the committee they were government work.
Though he told MSPs Sturgeon could have initially agreed the meetings thinking they were a party matter, before subsequently realising they were “something else”.
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