A Scottish Conservative MSP on the committee investigating the Scottish government’s botched handling of complaints against Alex Salmond has claimed he is “heartily sick of the whole affair”.
The former first minister pulled out of Wednesday’s scheduled appearance at the committee after parliamentary authorities removed, redacted and republished an edited version of his written evidence.
MSP Murdo Fraser condemned the decision to redact parts of Mr Salmond’s claims about Nicola Sturgeon following “grave concerns” raised by the Crown Office about its publication.
“As a member of the parliamentary committee investigating the matter, I am heartily sick of the whole affair,” said the Tory politician in an article for The Scotsman. “I am sick of the lies, the evasion, the deceit, the obstruction, and the obfuscation.”
Mr Fraser claimed the “whole sorry story” of the inquiry had revealed the Scottish government to be a “cesspit of vipers obsessed with personal vendettas, tearing at each other and destroying public trust”.
The MSP also criticised the Crown Office – the body responsible for prosecuting crimes in Scotland – for “threatening the Scottish parliament with criminal proceedings” if the evidence was not redacted.
“In his written submission, Salmond claims that the Crown Office acted under political influence,” Mr Murdo said. “The action taken yesterday would suggest that the Crown Office is out to prove his case for him.”
It comes as Mr Salmond’s lawyers announced that they would be writing to the Lord Advocate – Scotland’s top law officer – to ask for an explanation for the Crown Office’s “astonishing” and “highly irregular action”.
Questioning why the Crown Office waited until this week to intervene, his legal team asked: “What new information or intervention led to such a dramatic expansion of the material which the parliament has been required to redact?”
Acting Scottish Labour leader Jackie Baillie, who sits on the inquiry committee, has demanded to see the Crown Office’s letter to the Scottish parliament’s corporate body.
The Labour MSP also said the Lord Advocate, “should be invited to come before parliament and make an urgent statement” about the matter.
Despite being in the public domain for approximately 16 hours, the parliament’s corporate body decided to pull the evidence from its website on Tuesday afternoon and censor sections.
Mr Salmond’s lawyers said there was a “material risk” for him in giving evidence to the committee, and demanded to know the legal justification for the redactions. His legal team said he could still appear on Friday if an agreement can be reached.
The committee is set to meet in private on Wednesday to discuss “the implications of Mr Salmond’s response and the next steps for its work”.
Influential SNP councillor Chris McEleny appealed to Ms Sturgeon to help ease the damage done by the endless wrangling over the inquiry.
He tweeted: “Stop this madness that your officials and staff are responsible for which is ruining the hard earned reputation of our parliament and jeopardising the cause of independence.”
