Kenny MacAskill: I hope Alex Salmond's legal battle with Scottish Government will continue

Kenny MacAskill said it was a matter for the family to decide

The acting leader of Alex Salmond’s Alba Party has expressed his hope that the former first minister’s family will continue his legal battle against the Scottish Government.

Kenny MacAskill, a lifelong friend of Mr Salmond, said it was a matter for the family to decide, but added that he believed the case would uncover wrongdoing which must be exposed.

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Former first minister Alex SalmondFormer first minister Alex Salmond
Former first minister Alex Salmond | Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Tributes poured in over the weekend to the former first minister, who led the SNP in the 1990s and again between 2004 and 2014. The party’s astonishing electoral success under his leadership eventually led to the independence referendum, which the Yes side lost by 45 per cent to 55 per cent.

Mr Salmond later set up the pro-independence Alba Party amid the fallout over sexual harassment claims made against him. He was cleared of all criminal charges following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in 2020.

A book of condolence for Mr Salmond opened at the Scottish Parliament on Monday for visitors to leave messages, which will be sent to his family.

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First Minister John Swinney has also tabled a motion of condolence in Holyrood, supported by Alba Party Holyrood leader Ash Regan, in which he praised Mr Salmond’s “substantial and significant contribution...over many decades to public life”. At Westminster, figures from across the political spectrum paid tribute in the Commons chamber. Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, Mr MacAskill – who served in Mr Salmond’s cabinet and defected with him to his new party in 2021 – said Alba would continue.

“Of course, the party continues, we owe it to Alex, ” he said. “It was never the Alex Salmond party, it was Alex Salmond’s inspiration and Alex Salmond’s driving force, but the party is made up of thousands more and, as I say, that legacy will continue.”

In his later years, Mr Salmond was locked in a legal battle with the government he formerly led, and was paid more than £500,000 in costs by the Scottish government over the mishandling of harassment complaints against him.

In November 2023, Mr Salmond announced he would be taking further action, warning a “day of reckoning” for the Scottish Government was coming as he named former first minister – and political protegee – Nicola Sturgeon and ex-permanent secretary Leslie Evans in the case, accusing both of “misfeasance”.

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At the time the case was launched, then-first minister Humza Yousaf said the Government would defend itself “robustly”.

Mr MacAskill said that action could continue.

“It’s a matter for the family to decide,” he said. “My own position is that I will respect whatever the family decide, but I would certainly hope and I believe that they are likely to continue this, because that court case will expose, I believe, malfeasance amongst individuals and institutions that really has to be brought out to allow history to properly remember Alex Salmond.”

Sir David Davis, a Conservative MP and close friend of Mr Salmond, told the same programme he wanted to “open up this whole issue”, adding that the Scottish Parliament should be given powers of privilege to allow it to investigate without fear of prosecution.

The legal issues in the latter years of Mr Salmond’s life – which saw him cleared in the High Court of a number of sexual offences including attempted rape – had “put a huge pall over the last several years of this great man’s life and, who knows, it might even have accelerated his death, I don’t know, I can’t comment on that”, he said.

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“I want to see this exposed, so that the Scottish Government is forced to answer questions on this matter,” he added.

Sir David has also pushed the Foreign Office to use RAF planes to repatriate Mr Salmond’s body with “both dignity and expedition”.

“They’ve been listening,” he said of the Government. “But I know there are practicalities, there aren’t just aircraft sitting on a runway ready to take off. But they’re working on making it happen one way or another, whether it’s an RAF flight or a civil flight.”

The legal team that represented Mr Salmond during his criminal trial and in his battle with the Scottish Government said he had been determined to see justice done.

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In a statement, David McKie, a senior partner at Levy & McRae, said: “What he endured – the apparatus of the state turning against him – would have broken many people, but not Alex.

“He remained utterly determined to see justice done, but showed no bitterness or anger towards his accusers or to the many others who jumped on the bandwagon to condemn him, even before any evidence had been produced or presented.

“Instead, he simply focussed on the evidence and understood, unlike many commentators at the time, the importance of the due process of law. While some individuals, for whatever reasons, remained critical and sceptical (even after his legal victories, all of which were grounded on the evidence), his friends and his true supporters, as well as those who respect the rule and process of law, recognised and respected his complete vindication.

“I will always remember a truly incredible human being, with remarkable insight, strength of personality and a stoic restraint which many others could not contemplate. I cannot fail to mention either his kindness, loyalty, his ability with people and, remarkably, the wonderful sense of humour he managed to show throughout and despite his tribulations.”

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He added: “While there are still some injustices to be resolved, I hope Alex could rest in the knowledge that he was unequivocally vindicated and that he retained the love and respect of those who most mattered to him.”

On Sunday, Joanna Cherry said the former first minister had been stabbed in the back by friends and colleagues and “time will vindicate his name”. The ex-SNP MP, who was a key ally of the former first minister, said the way he had been treated was “pretty disgusting”.

Ms Cherry, who lost her seat at the general election in July and has returned to her legal career, told the BBC: “Alex has an outstanding civil action and there are outstanding criminal investigations, which we can’t say very much about.

“I think it’s a terrible tragedy that Alex has died before he was able to be completely vindicated. But I believe that time will vindicate his name, and I think more and more people across the political divide in Scotland are becoming interested in what exactly went on behind the scenes in relation to Alex Salmond.

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“And I think it’s the great tragedy of Alex Salmond’s career that so many of his erstwhile comrades and political colleagues and friends either stabbed him in the back or turned their backs on him in his hour of need.

“I found that pretty disgusting at the time, and I’m very proud that I stood by him. And I think it’s very important that as we talk about him in the days to come, we remember that he was acquitted of all the criminal charges against him.”

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