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The allegations that Nicola Sturgeon’s chief of staff “interfered” with the handling of allegations of sexual harassment against Alex Salmond are “fundamentally untrue,” according to the woman involved.
On Tuesday night, Conservative MP David Davis used parliamentary privilege to criticize the Scottish government’s handling of the sexual harassment allegations against Alex Salmond.
Davis told MPs: “I understand that there has been an exchange of messages between public officials since February 6, 2018 … suggesting that the prime minister’s chief of staff is interfering in the complaint process against Alex Salmond.
“[If] true, this suggests that the chief of staff learned of the Salmond case in February, not in April, as she has claimed. “
But in a statement issued by Rape Crisis Scotland, an anonymous whistleblower said that she had approached the chief of staff for advice, as a “person of confidence in the government”, but did not tell them “whose complaint was, whose it was about or the nature of the complaint ”.
She said she was contacted by Scottish government human resources in connection with an investigation into a complaint about Salmond’s behavior during his time as Prime Minister, and that she had been named as someone who had experienced such behavior in statements collected in the course of the research.
She decided that she did not want to file a complaint herself, but was concerned that this could obstruct an investigation and that she would be forced to cooperate.
The statement continues: “[The chief of staff] He offered to convey my concerns and what I wanted to have happen to a suitable senior official, who was the best person to discuss the matter. I agreed with this course of action. This was not ‘interfering’ but acting in accordance with my wishes. “
Speaking in Westminster, Davis alleged that there was a “concerted effort by senior members of the SNP to encourage complaints” against Salmond, and accused senior figures in the ruling party of “inappropriate” behavior. Salmond has previously accused senior government and party officials of a “malicious plot” against him.
The former prime minister was acquitted of 13 counts of sexual assault by a jury in March 2020.
When asked about Davis’s comments at Wednesday’s coronavirus briefing, Sturgeon said: “I strongly reject David Davis’s suggestions and innuendo in the Commons last night. I’m not going to let this Covid report get sidetracked by the latest installment of Alex Salmond’s conspiracy theory. I have given eight hours of evidence to the parliamentary commission investigating this. Now they can evaluate all the evidence they have obtained. “
There is an ongoing investigation in Holyrood into the Scottish government’s handling of complaints of sexual harassment made by two female officials against Salmond, which was declared illegal on procedural grounds and “tainted with apparent prejudice” following a judicial review by the former Prime Minister. Minister.
A separate investigation by James Hamilton QC concerns whether Sturgeon violated the ministerial code, including the accusation that he misled parliament when he first learned of Salmond’s allegations.
Both investigations are expected to be reported before the Holyrood parliament begins its electoral recess next Thursday.
