Former Tory minister delivers stinging criticism of Scottish Government over Alex Salmond investigation

A Conservative former minister has called for “democratic accountability” as he criticised the Scottish Government’s unlawful investigation of sexual harassment allegations made against Alex Salmond.

David Davis has previously used parliamentary privilege to raise concerns about the processes surrounding the investigation into the former SNP leader. In 2018, Mr Salmond took the Scottish Government to court, but the administration conceded prior to a judicial review that the way it conducted the inquiry was “unlawful”.

He was later charged with multiple counts of sexual assault but was cleared of all of the allegations against him after a High Court trial in March 2020.

During an adjournment debate on Thursday on the adequacy of the Scotland Act 1998, Mr Davis said the investigatory powers of the Scottish Parliament should be strengthened.

The MP for Goole and Pocklington told the Commons: “Three years ago on March 16, 2021, I presented to this House the implications of the unlawful Scottish Government investigation and contrived criminal charges against Alex Salmond.

“I recommended empowering the Scottish Parliament to investigate as a Scottish court found the Government acted illegally and engaged in the process tainted by bias against Mr Salmond.

“Regrettably the investigative committee appointed by Holyrood was limited in its powers of investigation, operating without protection of privilege and was thwarted at every turn by the delay, obfuscation and even threats from the Scottish Government and institutions of state.

“Three years on, that failure in democratic accountability has not been addressed, the investigatory powers of the Scottish Parliament could have been strengthened, decisions whether and who to prosecute could have been made entirely independent of ministers in the Scottish Government. Neither of these things have happened, forcing me to raise this matter again.”

On behalf of the Government, Scotland minister Kirsty McNeill said: “Scrutiny of the Scottish Government is a matter for the Scottish Parliament.” She said the legal proceedings between Mr Salmond and the Scottish Government were ongoing.

The former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has previously said she did not intervene in the investigation and described Mr Salmond’s claims of a plot against him as “absurd”.