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Clem Fandango

30 Jan, 11 tweets, 2 min read

From behind a paywall -
A senior adviser to Nicola Sturgeon said criminal charges would ultimately “get” Alex Salmond when the Scottish government admitted its own investigation had been unlawful, according to a witness statement.

Mr Salmond has submitted new evidence to a

Holyrood inquiry into the way civil servants handled allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

Last March a jury found Mr Salmond not guilty on 12 of the sexual assault charges facing him while another was found not proven, following a trial at the High Court in

Edinburgh.

Allies of Mr Salmond believe he has been the victim of a conspiracy from within the Scottish government, a claim that has been branded “nonsense” by Nicola Sturgeon.

A spokesman for the first minister has previously accused Mr Salmond of “spinning false

conspiracy theories” about how the complaints against him were handled.

Mr Salmond won a judicial review after challenging the government’s complaints process, which ruled the internal investigation was unfair and tainted with apparent bias.

In his submission Mr Salmond

said: “During November 2018 we became concerned about the possibility of the government attempting to sist (delay) the judicial review and (mindful of their likely loss in court) seek to emphasise instead the police investigation.

“We have a witness precognition

(statement) which recounts that in late November 2018 a special adviser told the witness that the government knew they would lose the judicial review but that they would ‘get him’ in the criminal case.”

The 11-page document, which has been sent to MSPs on the cross-party

committee, gives an indication of the tone Mr Salmond will adopt if he gives evidence in person. He is due to attend on February 9 with final details of his appearance still being negotiated.

“The behaviour of the government was, in my view, a disgrace. But actions have

consequences,” Mr Salmond added in the submission. “Accountability is at the heart of the Scottish parliament. The rule of law requires that those who have acted illegally are held to account.”

Last night a source close to Ms Sturgeon said: “Like so many of the concocted

conspiracy theories peddled by Mr Salmond the claim that such a thing was ever said is categorically untrue and will be exposed as such in the fullness of time.” A Scottish government spokesman said it had no role in the criminal process against Mr Salmond and “it would be

absurd to suggest otherwise”.

A former Scottish cabinet member has claimed that high-ranking members of the SNP shared dozens of messages about Mr Salmond in a social media group chat.

Kenny MacAskill, the MP for East Lothian who served as justice secretary in Mr Salmond’s

administration, claimed the content of the Whatsapp group, which included staff and politicians, had long been a subject of open discussion within SNP circles.
The Times -end-

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Clem Fandango

@ScotiaIndyref2

30 Jan

@NicolaSturgeon

2015 first sign that all was not right with our Glorious Leader, Queen @NicolaSturgeon .
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The Ferret.

The documents, revealing the existence of GCHQ’s project MILKWHITE, come from US whistleblower and former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden and also reveal the existence of a surveillance unit – the Scottish Recording Centre (SRC) – which

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Clem Fandango

@ScotiaIndyref2

24 Jan

Mines had always had a large female element in their workforce; women were generally employed to carry coal to the surface. It was only in 1842 – with the Mines Regulation Act – that women and young children were banned from working below ground.

The following passage is an extract of a book that was published by Robert Bald, a mining engineer at Alloa, in 1812.

Robert Bald, A General View of the Coal Trade of Scotland, Chiefly that of the River Forth & Lothian, to which is Added an Inquiry into the Condition of the Women who Carry Coals under Ground in Scotland, Known by the Name of Bearers, Edinburgh: Oliphant, Waugh and Innes, 1812

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Clem Fandango

@ScotiaIndyref2

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Clem Fandango

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22 Jan

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Clem Fandango

@ScotiaIndyref2

13 Jan

Civil servants' clarifications and corrections.
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At an evidence session on September 15, Barbara Allison was asked whether she received a text message from Leslie Evans, in January 2019, stating “battle may be lost but not the war.” She twice claimed that she had not received

the message. However, she later wrote to the committee, ahead of a second appearance, admitting she had received it after all. She claimed she "must have deleted" the message. She maintains that she cannot remember what she sent to Ms Evans to elicit the response.

The Scottish Government has repeatedly been accused of obstructing the inquiry by refusing to hand over legal advice it received about Mr Salmond's legal challenge. Mr Salmond has claimed ministers continued to fight his case until January 2019, despite being warned in October

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Clem Fandango

@ScotiaIndyref2

13 Jan

Breaking - Nicola Sturgeon's government has spent more than £50,000 "preparing" civil servants to give evidence about the Alex Salmond affair at hearings where they suffered "collective memory loss", it has emerged.
Information obtained by The Daily Telegraph shows that

by early November, £54,378 of taxpayers’ money had been spent on external assistance to help senior civil servants get ready for appearances at a Holyrood inquiry.
The Scottish Government refused to say which organisation or individual had been hired, but members of the

committee branded the cost “astonishing” and said it raised questions over whether witnesses had been “coached”.
Staff logs released in response to a Freedom of Information request also show that witnesses spent several hours preparing for sessions, only to then face criticism

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