Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond agree to co-operate with Holyrood inquiry

Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond are to be brought before a Scottish Parliament inquiry into the botched sexual harassment investigation into the ex-first minister. A Holyrood inquiry is to be established into the case that has rocked Scottish politics as revelations continue to emerge over secret meetings between the SNP's two most senior figures about the claims.

Relations between Ms Sturgeon and her predecessor have degenerated into open hostility amid claims of a “smear campaign” by the former leader, who alleges some individuals are out to remove him as a political threat.

A special committee of MSPs will be set up to look into the collapse of the government investigation after allegations by two women about Mr Salmond. He denies the claims.

A separate police investigation in ongoing.

Alex Salmond speaking outside the Court of Session in Edinburgh after it ruled that the Scottish Government acted unlawfully regarding sexual harassment complaints against the former first minister

The inquiry will examine the meetings between Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond while the Holyrood inquiry was under way and the process used by the civil service in handling the complaints. The new Holyrood investigation comes on top of an inquiry by an external panel of advisers into potential breaches of the ministerial code of conduct after Ms Sturgeon referred herself to this body. A 
spokesman for Mr Salmond said: “Alex will be happy to co-operate, in principle and if asked, with a parliamentary inquiry which seeks to examine how the administration of the Scottish Government could get itself into a position where the Court of Session had to rule that it had acted ‘unlawfully’, ‘unfairly’ and ‘tainted by apparent bias’.

“We believe the Permanent Secretary should already have accepted the responsibility for that expensive farce, which has cost the Scottish people an estimated £500,000.

“Everyone, those who complain and those complained about, has the right to the protection of a procedure which is fair, balanced, confidential and above all lawful.”

The First Minister has previously made it clear she would co-operate with any inquiry held by MSPs into the case.

The investigation was agreed by all parties on Holyrood’s business bureau yesterday, including the SNP.

The SNP hierarchy has been plunged into open warfare after the collapse last week of a government internal inquiry into Mr Salmond over claims from female civil servants of sexual harassment relating to his time as first minister.

Holyrood officials will prepare options on its remit and membership, which is likely to include measures to ensure it does not conflict with an active police investigation that is under way.

The government conceded defeat last Tuesday after a legal challenge brought by Mr Salmond at the Court of Session when it emerged the head of the investigation, before being appointed, had been in contact with the women making the complaints about their cases.

Scottish Conservative interim leader Jackson Carlaw said: “An investigation has been botched, two complainants have been let down and hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been wasted.

“These are clearly matters for the Scottish Parliament to investigate and the inquiry must be able to examine what went wrong and why this was allowed to happen.

“The setting up of the inquiry does not mean that legitimate questions cannot be asked – or answered – in the short term.”

He added: “This scandal cannot be swept under the carpet. Parliament must, and now will, get the chance to probe this matter fully, learn lessons and ensure it can never happen again.”

The affair has seen relations between Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon nosedive, with the First Minister accusing her predecessor of a “smear campaign” over the meetings.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard described news of the Holyrood inquiry as a “positive step forward”.

He said: “Full transparency in this matter is essential in order for the public to have confidence in the First Minister and the Scottish Government. That means full public and parliamentary scrutiny.

“At all times it is essential to remember that at the centre of all of this are two courageous women who put their faith in a system that has badly let them down and we must never lose sight of that by safeguarding the duty of care to them and their access to justice.

“We must restore trust and confidence in the system.”

Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said the police investigation must be the priority. “These complaints deserve to be thoroughly investigated by the police without political interference,” he said.