The SNP’s Westminster leader was told of concerns about Alex Salmond’s inappropriate behaviour towards staff at Edinburgh Airport a decade ago, it has been claimed.
Angus Robertson, who lost his seat as an MP in 2017, was reportedly told female employees at the transport hub had complained about the former First Minister.
Police interviewed staff at the airport last week as part of their ongoing investigation into sexual harassment claims against Mr Salmond.
Read more: Police probing Alex Salmond misconduct allegations question Edinburgh Airport staff
Scottish Labour branded the latest revelations “shocking” – and demanded to know whether the concerns had been passed to party officials.
Equalities spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said: “We already know that Nicola Sturgeon continued to meet Alex Salmond while he was being investigated by the Scottish Government over sexual harassment allegations.
“Now it seems former SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson was explicitly told about these concerns by officials at Edinburgh Airport.
“The SNP must urgently explain whether Mr Robertson, one of the most senior SNP politicians, passed these concerns on to party officials and what – if any – action was taken by the SNP in light of those concerns to protect women from sexual harassment.”
Mr Salmond, 63, was the subject of a Scottish Government probe after two woman raised complaints about his conduct in January.
The findings were passed to Police Scotland, which has now launched its own investigation.
Meanwhile, the former SNP leader is taking the Government to court over its handling of the complaints process, which he insists was unfair. He denies all wrongdoing and any suggestion of criminality.
On Monday, it emerged police had widened their probe beyond the civil service, interviewing employees at Edinburgh Airport.
The Daily Record reported the police inquiry related to alleged incidents in 2008, when Mr Salmond regularly used the airport as First Minister.
Sky News later claimed Mr Robertson was told of concerns raised by airport staff at the time. It is understood no official complaint was ever made.
The broadcaster said it approached the SNP about the allegations in November last year – but received no response.
The SNP Government has repeatedly insisted there were no recorded complaints against Mr Salmond before January.
Mr Robertson lost his seat in June 2017 but continued as the SNP’s deputy leader until earlier this year.
Asked if he took any action at the time, he said: “Given ongoing inquiries I’m not making any comments at this stage.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives called for full transparency from the SNP.
He said: “Since the initial allegations broke, the SNP leadership has claimed to be blissfully unaware of any suggestions of wrongdoing.
“But the longer this goes on, the less convincing that explanation becomes.
“We need to see proper transparency from the SNP about who knew what, and what action was taken at the time.”
A spokesman for Mr Salmond said: “Mr Salmond denies all suggestions of misconduct at any time and suggests that everyone should allow police enquires to take their proper course without briefing or breaching their confidentiality.
“Alex has not been interviewed by the police about any matter. He is content to have his case against the Scottish Government stated in the Court of Session in January.”
An SNP spokesman said: “We cannot comment on complaints about Alex Salmond while police inquiries are ongoing.
“The opposition should be adhering to due process, rather than trying to score political points.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel