What's inside the Salmond files? Sturgeon reveals Salmond's 'floodgates' warning
Ms Sturgeon’s words come from an interview she conducted as part of an ethics investigation into her behaviour - dubbed the ‘Salmond files’ - which were released on Tuesday afternoon
Nicola Sturgeon said Alex Salmond warned her “floodgates” would open after he was first accused of inappropriate behaviour towards women.
The former first minister also said that her predecessor’s behaviour towards a woman was “deeply inappropriate” which “shocked” her.
Ms Sturgeon’s words come from an interview she conducted as part of an ethics investigation into her behaviour - dubbed the “Salmond files” - which were released on Tuesday afternoon.
She was cleared of breaking the ministerial code over a botched 2018 investigation into Mr Salmond.
Former fist minister and SNP leader Mr Salmond was cleared of sexually assaulting nine women in 2020.
Ms Sturgeon’s interview with former Irish director of public prosecutions James Hamilton - who led the probe into her conduct - was included in the Salmond Files.
She spoke about separate allegations of Mr Salmond behaving inappropriately towards staff at Edinburgh Airport.
Ms Sturgeon said she had heard that Mr Salmond “had been contacting people in the Scottish Government effectively asking people that he had worked with or that might have been with him going through Edinburgh Airport to back him up.
She told Mr Hamilton: “His contacting people in the Scottish Government had appeared to almost stir something, a hornet’s nest had been stirred kind of thing. That was the impression I got.
“And then he said something to me about you know, you can't have stories like this running because you get one and the flood gates will open kind of thing, which he immediately qualified and said ‘oh no, that's not to say that I think there is anything there’.
“But it was just the combination of things left me with a ‘is there something that is about to come forward about Mr Salmond's behaviour?’
“It wasn't something I thought about every day, or worried me everyday, but it was there in the back of my mind, and that I suppose is the backdrop to what unfolded at a later stage.”
After the Scottish Government had started investigating claims that he had sexually harassed two women, Mr Salmond went to Ms Sturgeon’s home.
She said: “He showed me the letter that he had received from the Permanent Secretary, asked me to read it.
“I was deeply profoundly shocked by what I read, and he then gave me his account, and I’m not going to get into detail but his account of it, and you know he denied part of what was alleged, but his account shocked me too, because in my view it was an account of something that was deeply inappropriate and it shocked me deeply at the time. And you know I will remember that sense of shock for a long time.”
She added: “Mr Salmond is, and it’s a matter of great personal, you know, grief to me, he’s on a bit of a revenge mission right now.”
Mr Salmond said that Ms Sturgeon was “calm and collected” during their infamous meeting at her Glasgow home in 2018.
He said he had expected his successor to launch a mediation process after complaints against him by civil servants.
The substance of what happened at the notorious summit was contested by both sides, with it being a central part of the probe into how the Scottish Government handled the complaints against Mr Salmond.
Then first minister Ms Sturgeon initially said that she first became aware of the allegations against Mr Salmond when the pair met at her home.
She told a 2021 Holyrood inquiry that her “head was spinning, I was experiencing a maelstrom of emotions" when her former mentor told her the claims against him.
She also said in written evidence to MSPs that she had made it clear to Mr Salmond that she would not intervene in the Scottish government's complaints process.
But Mr Salmond took a different view in his interview with Mr Hamilton as part of the Salmond Files.
He said: "She didn’t give any impression on April 2 of being in a state of shock. On the contrary, she was calm and collected and thinking, and the conversation was about how she could intervene, it wasn’t whether she was going to intervene, it was the circumstances in which she could intervene."
Mr Salmond continued: "People react to shock in different ways, but, and I’ve known Nicola a very long time, and I can absolutely assure you she was not shocked, or in a state of shock, or in a state of any distress, nor was her brain spinning. Her brain working as it always does in what I saw then was a productive and legitimate effort to assist."
Mr Hamilton then said Ms Sturgeon had "clearly changed her mind" after the meeting.
Mr Salmond replied: "I obviously I am not suggesting that somebody is not entitled to change their mind, I'm merely saying what I know to be true, that on April 2 she was going to intervene and it was just a question of how she could do it."
He continued: "What happened is we put in our proposal for mediation, which incidentally was rejected as we now know without consultation with the complainants. But we put that in about the 23rd or 24th of April, something like that, and we got an immediate response saying no. And as I say, as we now know, and as the Committee now knows, the decision was taken without, they were told afterwards."
In a letter to Mr Hamilton, Liz Lloyd, Ms Sturgeon's former chief of staff, referred to Mr Salmond's "threatening tone" when he was pushing against the government probe.
She wrote: "On or around the 4 or 5 June [2018], the FM showed me a message she had received from Mr Salmond which appeared to indicate that he intended to take legal action against the government. Having worked around Mr Salmond over a number of years, I felt the message had a threatening tone which I recognised and was intended in my view to pressure the FM into taking action to in some way suppress or block the inquiry and prevent it concluding."
The files were released following a long-running legal dispute.
Scottish Information Commission David Hamilton had initially told Scottish ministers to release the files by January 15. After ministers missed this deadline, it was extended to January 22, but this was once again missed.
Mr Hamiton then announced he had instructed solicitors to begin proceedings against the Scottish Government at the Court of Session, the first time this has happened in the history of the post.
Last month First Minister John Swinney criticised Mr Hamilton, saying he had “erred in law” by demanding the government release all the documents in the ‘Salmond files’, as he believed it could inadvertently identify the women who complained of alleged sexual assault against Mr Salmond.
Mr Swinney had promised to release the files before the Holyrood election in May.
Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said: “John Swinney and the SNP have fought this every step of the way, spending eyewatering amounts of taxpayer money in court trying to bury these documents.
“The release of these documents is a win for transparency and for the rule of law, but it is shameful that the SNP government had to be dragged to this point kicking and screaming.
“The truth is this debacle is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the rotten culture of secrecy and cover-up at the heart of this SNP government.
“We see the same pattern time and time again – secrecy over transparency, cover-up over truth, and arrogance over openness.
“John Swinney is the architect of the SNP’s secret Scotland and he will always put his party before our country.
“In May we can end the SNP secrecy and cover-up and restore accountability and honesty in Scottish politics by electing a Scottish Labour government.”
Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser said: “The SNP should not have had to be dragged kicking and screaming into finally agreeing to release these documents.
“This whole episode has smacked of Nationalist secrecy from the start. They have been at pains to try and protect the reputation of Nicola Sturgeon throughout this and have shamefully and repeatedly ignored deadlines from the information commissioner to publish these files.
“The huge redactions in what has belatedly been published will make Scots wonder what on earth the SNP are still trying to hide about the conduct of Nicola Sturgeon.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “Extensive work has taken place to review these documents and ensure that as much information as possible can be placed in the public domain.
“The courts have made it clear that those who complained in relation to allegations of sexual assault must have their identities protected.
“The Scottish Government is not permitted to release information which would breach those court orders and amount to a contempt of court.”
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.