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Alex Salmond’s six-hour tour de force before a committee of the Scottish Parliament on Friday was a vivid reminder of why this imperfect and complicated figure dominated politics in Scotland for so long. Master of every detail of the labyrinthine history of the Scottish government’s handling of allegations of sexual harassment against him, he answered all questions with clarity and confidence.
When the committee chairman ruled that a hostile question was out of reach, Salmond would agree with it, but would then continue to answer it. But his seemingly calm demeanor did nothing to hide the explosive nature of his accusations against Nicola Sturgeon and her circle or the anger behind them.
“For two years and six months, this has been a nightmare. I have every desire to move on and turn the page. But the reason I am here today is because we cannot turn that page until decision making is addressed, which is undermining the system of government in Scotland, ”he said.
Salmond’s central accusation is that leading figures in Scotland’s political and bureaucratic leadership engaged in a conspiracy to destroy his reputation with a campaign charging him with serious sex crimes that could have sent him to prison for years. After he was cleared of all charges last year, he said there was evidence he wanted to expose and that Friday’s committee hearing was his chance to do so.
Much of what he said had already been reported, but there was still a heavy emotional toll when Salmond read the emails exchanged between longtime Scottish National Party (SNP) colleagues suggesting that the police should be pressured to act against him. . Politically, the most extraordinary moment came when Salmond, who led the independence movement in Scotland for decades, said that the current leadership was not fit to pull the country out of the UK.
So far, Sturgeon and his allies have dismissed Salmond’s allegations as unfounded, accusing him of lacking evidence for his claims. But on Friday he was careful to avoid making accusations without documentary evidence, without accusing Sturgeon herself of being involved in the plot against him.
However, he alleged that she violated the ministerial code by misleading parliament about what she knew about the complaints against her. This question is the subject of a separate investigation led by Irish lawyer James Hamilton.
Salmond is now a deeply unpopular figure in Scotland, while Sturgeon is by far the most popular politician in the country. But the strength of Salmond’s performance on Friday and the seriousness of his accusations mean that as he prepares to face the committee next Wednesday, the prime minister is in greater danger than ever.
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