Holyrood to hold probe into Salmond complaints

The Scottish Parliament is to launch an inquiry into the handling of sexual harassment complaints against Alex Salmond.

MSPs have agreed that a full Holyrood inquiry is needed following a court ruling last week which deemed the way the Scottish Government dealt with the complaints was unlawful.

Nicola Sturgeon has come under fire personally for holding a series of meetings with Salmond during the course of the investigation.

The First Minister has referred herself to a separate panel of independent advisers over claims she broke the ministerial code.

MSPs on the Holyrood bureau have agreed that a special committee will be set up to conduct the probe, which will look at how the complaints were handled and the circumstances surrounding meetings between Sturgeon and Salmond during the investigation.

The parliamentary bureau will meet in the coming weeks to discuss membership of the special committee, which will be set up to carry out the inquiry, and also to decide its specific remit.

Scottish Conservative interim leader Jackson Carlaw, who called for the Holyrood probe, said: “I’m pleased that the parliamentary bureau has decided today to back the Scottish Conservative proposal for a Holyrood inquiry into this affair.

“An investigation has been botched, two complainants have been let down, and hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been wasted.

“These are clearly matters for the Scottish Parliament to investigate, and the inquiry must be able to examine what went wrong and why this was allowed to happen.

“The setting up of the inquiry does not mean that legitimate questions cannot be asked – or answered – in the short term.

“For example, it is reported today that the First Minister’s chief of staff told a former colleague of Mr Salmond in March of last year that she ‘suspected’ an inquiry was on-going.

“Why was she speaking about this inquiry to third parties? Did she tell Nicola Sturgeon of her suspicions too? Or are we really to believe that Ms Sturgeon’s own chief of staff kept this from her?

“This scandal cannot be swept under the carpet. Parliament must, and now will, get the chance to probe this matter fully, learn lessons, and ensure it can never happen again.”

An internal investigation was launched by the Scottish Government in January last year after two employees made allegations of sexual harassment against Salmond.

Salmond – who strongly denies the allegations – took the Scottish Government to court over the way the complaints process was handled and the government was forced to admit that the procedure had been flawed.

It is understood the Court of Session case could cost the government £500,000.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “This is the right decision and a positive step forward.

“Full transparency in this matter is essential in order for the public to have confidence in the First Minister and the Scottish Government. That means full public and parliamentary scrutiny.

“At all times it is essential to remember that at the centre of all of this are two courageous women who put their faith in a system that has badly let them down, and we must never lose sight of that, by safeguarding the duty of care to them and their access to justice.

“We must restore trust and confidence in the system, this committee will be an important step towards that.”

A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: “Bureau members unanimously agreed to create a new committee of inquiry.

“Officials have been asked to prepare options on its remit and membership and these will be discussed at a future meeting of the bureau.”