Scottish Government: No complaints made against Alex Salmond before January

The Scottish Government has said there were no recorded complaints regarding Alex Salmond before January this year.
Alex Salmond denies the allegations against him.Alex Salmond denies the allegations against him.
Alex Salmond denies the allegations against him.

Two allegations of sexual harassment were made in January against the former first minister, who strongly denies the claims. He was informed of an investigation in March.

Mr Salmond, who has since resigned from the SNP, is taking court action against the Scottish Government to contest the complaints process activated against him.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Scottish Government stressed no complaints had been recorded prior to January after claims that one of those complaints was first investigated in 2013.

Read More
Answers wanted over claims Alex Salmond first probed in 2013

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government received two complaints in January in relation to Alex Salmond. These could not be ignored or swept under the carpet.

“No complaints were raised with the then deputy first minister about Alex Salmond under the previous process and, as we have said, the first the First Minister became aware of the fact of an investigation was from Alex Salmond in April 2018.

“We are confident our processes are legally sound and we will vigorously defend our position.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“In the fullness of time the Scottish Government will seek to make available as much information as it can.

“However, as we have said previously, for legal reasons we can make no further comment on the issues relating to Mr Salmond at this time.”

A spokesman for Alex Salmond said: “We have no comment to make because our Petition for Judicial Review against the Permanent Secretary is now before the Court of Session and we expect it to be called shortly. We will do our talking in court.

“Our objective is to establish that Scottish Government’s complaints procedure used against Alex is unlawful.”