Alex Salmond would have defended himself against Nicola Sturgeon's memoir 'with every fibre'
Alex Salmond’s family say the allegations against him in Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir are a tactic to try and sell her new book.
Alex Salmond’s niece says the former first minister would have defended himself against the allegations in Nicola Sturgeon’s book “with every fibre of his being”.
Christina Hendry said she believed there was a conspiracy against her late uncle and suggested the allegations were being raised now to try and sell Ms Sturgeon’s new memoir.
Over the weekend it was revealed Mr Salmond’s widow Moira is planning to push ahead with her late husband’s legal action against the Scottish Government. Mrs Salmond has appointed a KC, two junior counsel and a lead investigator to pursue the case.
It is understood the criticisms of Mr Salmond in Ms Sturgeon’s memoir has strengthened Mrs Salmond’s resolve to pursue the legal action.
Mr Salmond had been pursuing legal action against the government over its handling of sexual harassment allegations against him when he died in North Macedonia in October.
In Ms Sturgeon’s memoir ‘Frankly’, which was published last week, she accused Mr Salmond of being against gay marriage, of having multiple affairs, of not reading the SNP’s independence white paper, and of leaking details of the government investigation against him to portray himself as a victim.
Ms Sturgeon also dismissed the idea of a “conspiracy to destroy” her predecessor and former mentor.
Speaking to BBC Good Morning Scotland on Monday, Ms Hendry said: “The way I see it is if my uncle was here today, these things would not be being said. They are being said because he’s not here to defend himself, as he would have done with every fibre of his being.”
She said people were “questioning the timing” of the memoir’s publication as there were many years before Mr Salmond’s death when these issues could have been resolved.
Ms Hendy said she believed Ms Sturgeon was making these allegations publicly as a tactic to try and sell her book.
She said: “The bottom line is he was cleared in the highest court of Scotland, so I am unsure why this keeps getting brought up. I do think there were people conspiring against him and I think the truth will still come out.
“There are still some things that are to come out in the public, and many people should be thinking about their actions.”
When asked if the stress of dealing with the fall-out from the court case and the botched government investigation impacted on Mr Salmond’s health, Ms Hendry said: “I think for anybody they would find that very difficult and very stressful, and as Kenny MacAskill [Mr Salmond’s successor as leader of the Alba Party] has already said, he believes that led to the events that followed.”
Ms Hendry added: “As a family, we are most definitely united on continuing the things my uncle started before he passed. As a family, we are very close and very strong, and we will continue to do anything we can to defend his name.
“For anybody if they had a family member pass and there were things left unfinished, anyone would want to conclude them in their name.”
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