Former Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, has launched a fresh legal case against the Scottish government relating to the way it handled an inquiry into harassment claims made against him. Salmond is claiming damages and loss of earnings of £3m. This new case is the latest development in the five-year-long controversy that saw Salmond cleared of charges of sexual assault and led to a parliamentary inquiry.
The background of the situation dates back to 2018 when the Scottish government set up a procedure for investigating harassment complaints against ministers and former ministers. The very first use of this procedure was for two internal complaints against Alex Salmond. He immediately complained that the process was unfair. Despite never being officially announced, the investigation upheld the complaints against Salmond. This led to Salmond launching a judicial review in the courts that eventually concluded with the government admitting defeat and admitting that the application of the new process had been unlawful.
The inquiry dominated the run-up to the Holyrood election in 2021 and saw Mr Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon, and other prominent figures in Scottish politics give hours of evidence. Salmond was critical of those in charge of the government, saying there was a malicious plot against him and accused his successor of misleading parliament. Sturgeon denied these allegations, and the committee was critical of her, but she was ultimately cleared of breaking the ministerial code by her independent adviser. Salmond accepted the outcome of the inquiries, but he has long been talking of going back to court, and now he is suing for misfeasance, which means the wrongful exercise of lawful authority.
Mr Salmond believes that government officials acted “improperly, in bad faith and beyond their powers with the intention of injuring” him. His lawyer says that the officials decided early on that Salmond was guilty and that the situation “snowballed” into a whole range of other problems. This case is not just about money but about accountability. Salmond was critical that nobody from the Scottish government took the fall for the botched investigation. He specifically called for the Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans – the top civil servant who had a big role in drawing up the complaints process, and who was singled out for criticism by the inquiry, to lose her job. Rather, she had her contract extended, and left office in 2022.
This court case, involving prominent politicians, will have a political impact. Nicola Sturgeon’s government has faced a rocky road, and this latest case is the last thing her successor, Humza Yousaf, needs. Salmond’s new party, Alba, has been pushing for a “Scotland United” deal with the SNP, but if he is to resume his criticism of senior figures in the party and government, any hopes of a political rapprochement seem remote
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