ALEX Salmond has demanded a leak inquiry after confidential material sent to the Scottish Government ended up in the Daily Record.

The former First Minister’s lawyer said the “data breach” appeared deliberately designed to damage Mr Salmond.

David McKie, of law firm Levy & McRae, said the information could only have come from the Government and its leaking was “a clear contravention of the law”.

He told the Government: “We are appalled that correspondence with the Scottish Government on matters as sensitive as those involved in this case cannot be sent with any confidence that they will be treated appropriately and in good faith. 

“Furthermore, the breach appears to have been selective and deliberately misleading.”

Scottish Labour accused the Government of a “cloak and dagger” operation.

Mr Salmond is now demanding the Government refer itself to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, which deals with data breaches by public bodies.

The row concerns potential evidence to the Holyrood inquiry into the Government’s botched sexual misconduct investigation of Mr Salmond in 2018.

Mr Salmond has objected to Government’s intention to release material about the probe to MSPs, which he says would breach a court order and undertaking.

Mr Salmond had the probe set aside, or reduced, in a judicial review at the Court of Session.

He was able to show the whole exercise had been “tainted by apparent bias” because the Investigating Officer had been in prior contact with his two accusers.

The collapse of the Government’s case in January 2019 left taxpayers with a £500,000 bill. 

The Government also gave an undertaking to the court that it would “not cause or permit the publication or dissemination to any other person of the… Investigating Officer’s report or any statements or other material taken or prepared by her in the course of preparing the same”, unless obliged to do so by a court or legal "requirement".

On 31 August, deputy First Minister John Swinney told the inquiry the Government was working on the release of a tranche of evidence about the probe.

He said this involved notifying “any named individual whose personal data” was included in the files, “notifying them of their legal right to object”, and that one person had objected.

He said: “A formal objection has been received by the Scottish Government on behalf of an individual in response to our notification.” 

The Daily Record subsequently reported Mr Salmond was behind the objection.

Mr McKie said the article implied Mr Salmond had objected to the released of evidence demanded by the committee, when in fact it was being offered by the Government despite the previous undertaking to the court. 

In  an email. Mr McKie told MSPs: “The information in the article can only have come from the Scottish Government. 

“We have written to the government, seeking an investigation into the data breach, given its serious implications for the proper functioning of your Committee.” 

In a separate letter to the Government about the “data breach”, Mr McKie said: “The information in the article can only have come from the Scottish Government. 

“It was information sent only to the Scottish Government in a letter marked ‘private and confidential. The data breach is a clear contravention of the law. 

“We are appalled that correspondence with the Scottish Government on matters as sensitive as those involved in this case cannot be sent with any confidence that they will be treated appropriately and in good faith. 

“Furthermore, the breach appears to have been selective and deliberately misleading. 

“It has resulted in a highly defamatory and misleading article being published about our client. That, doubtless, was the intention. 

“We therefore ask you undertake an immediate investigation and to identify all parties who received a copy of our letter. 

“That will assist in identifying the source of the data breach. Please confirm that you will report this clear data breach to the ICO immediately. 

“If not, please set out the basis for your refusal to do so.”

Labour MSP Jackie Baillie, who sits on the Inquiry, said: “If it is true that the Scottish Government leaked sensitive information to the Daily Record newspaper then there are serious questions for senior members of the government to answer.

“By practicing evasion and now leaking, the Scottish Government is neither covering itself in glory nor acting as a government should.

“It seems that the Scottish Government’s default mode of operation is cloak and dagger. 

“This is not acceptable and must end.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "We have already replied to Levy & McRae to say we have no evidence of any leak of their client’s data or correspondence on this matter from the Scottish Government.

“The Scottish Government has cooperated fully with the Committee and will continue to do so.”