MSPs threaten to quit Holyrood Salmond inquiry over withheld submission

The warning came after the decision to withhold the former first minister'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 won't 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.

READ MORE: Alex Salmond inquiry: How did we get here and where will the probe go next?

The former First Minister is due in front of the inquiry on Tuesday, but has said he will now need to consult with advisers. There’s speculation he could instead hold a press conference unless the committee's U-turns.

Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon's spokesperson has said the First Minister is relishing the chance to appear in front of the committee to tackle "the absurd, contradictory and – as we started to see this week, utterly baseless – conspiracy theories that have been allowed to spread, unchecked and unchallenged."

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.

At a later criminal case the former SNP leader was found not guilty on 12 charges of sexual assault.

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.

One member of the committee told the Sunday Post they felt they had no choice but to consider their position.

They said: "There is some very serious thinking going on at the moment.

"We are here, in good faith, to do a job and if it is felt we cannot do that job, for whatever reason, then that poses a hard question for all of us."

MSPs have also been frustrated that the Scottish Government has not handed over legal advice in relation to the judicial review - despite Holyrood voting twice to demand they do so.

Another source told the Sunday Post: "In any normal democracy a committee like this would be uncovering evidence and facts that were not in the public domain," he said.

"This committee wants to pretend important evidence that is already in the public domain doesn't exist. Anyone can read this statement apart, apparently, from the committee of inquiry. It is beyond farce. It is Alice Through the Looking Glass."

LibDem MSP and committee member Alex Cole-Hamilton hit out at the SNP members on the inquiry: "On the whole, the convener [SNP MSP Linda Fabiani] has performed her role well, allowing us to go where we want to go in terms of questions to witnesses. The SNP members have also asked reasonable questions.

"However, I have been concerned in this endgame phase that repeated requests for meetings and formal proposals have been met with silence by the SNP members on the committee.

"It is starting to feel as if it is perhaps in their interests to slow-walk ideas and solutions to problems so that Alex Salmond never appears before the committee.

"I issued a formal proposal on Thursday that we give Mr Salmond the opportu- nity to recast his submission in line with our data-handling requirements. After silence by the SNP members, the clerks issued an email on Friday morning that pressures of time might make that request impossible. I should say for the record the clerks have been excellent and worked really hard."

Committee member and Scottish Labour interim leader Jackie Baillie said: "It is important we hear from Alex Salmond. The absence of his evidence will undermine the work of the committee.

"The committee's work has been hampered by the lack of co-operation from the Scottish Government from the start."

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon to ‘set the record straight’ at Alex Salmond inquiry

Sturgeon’s spokesman said the First Minister was "relieved she will at long last get to appear before the committee."

He added: "She knows and accepts that the scrutiny of her and the Scottish Government's handling of the complaints made about Mr Salmond's behaviour is entirely legitimate. However, she is relishing the opportunity to answer the questions asked of her and to set the record straight.

"She also looks forward to taking head-on the absurd, contradictory and - as we started to see this week, utterly baseless - conspiracy theories that have been allowed to spread, unchecked and unchallenged.

"The First Ministerhas been subjected to a litany of smear, innuendo and outright falsehoods throughout this affair."

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”.