THE WOMEN who spoke out about about sexual assault allegations against Alex Salmond have been “weaponised”, Mhairi Black has said.
The SNP MP for Paisley was speaking to Sky News this morning and said “conspiracy theories” and “agendas” are taking precedence over helping potential victims of sexual harassment.
Discussing the Scottish Parliament’s inquiry into the Salmond affair, she told ‘Sophy Ridge on Sunday’: “The Scottish government did make a mistake in terms of how they actually implemented this policy and it is actually quite refreshing I think to see the First Minister in particular put her hands up and sincerely say we could do better and that’s what the point of this inquiry should be, to figure out how can we make sure this kind of mistake never happens again.
“Instead, what we’ve had is just this barrage of conspiracy theories, of attacks of our institutions, of clear political agendas taking precedence over what is a very serious issue.”
The MP for Paisley said the fiasco over the inquiry and the whole process “has been horrendous” and expressed concern for the complainants.
She said: “I think the way that this inquiry has played out has just been horrendous and I can’t imagine the horror of the experience that the complainants are having just now… the women at the heart of this
Mr Salmond gave evidence the week before, and has repeatedly claimed there was a vendetta against him by senior members of the Scottish government and the SNP.
However legal documents published by the Government last week appeared to debunk the claims of a conspiracy.
Mr Salmond launched his judicial review in August 2018 after the Scottish Government completed a sexual misconduct probe into him, based on complaints filed in January of that year.
The Government also alerted the police to its probe in August 2018, starting a criminal investigation. Mr Salmond was acquitted of all charges of sexual assault at a High Court trial last year, with the Holyrood inquiry focussed on the mistakes made in the Government’s probe into the claims.
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