Salmond denies sexual harassment accusations, admits 'many mistakes'

Former first minister taking Scottish government to court over handling of historic complaints

Alex Salmond has denied allegations of sexual harassment, but admitted making “many mistakes” in an interview hours after complaints against him became public.

The former Scottish first minister told the BBC that he was “not a saint” and had “flaws”, but insisted he had not been involved in any form of misconduct.

Mr Salmond is accused of two instances of sexual assault in December 2013. They reportedly involved staff at the official residence of the first minister in Edinburgh during his time in the post.

The former SNP leader is now taking the Scottish government to court, accusing its permanent secretary Leslie Evans of “behaving unlawfully” over her handling of the complaints.

“I have made many mistakes in my life, political and personal, but I have not sexually harassed anyone and I have certainly not been engaged in criminality,” he said. “I took the legal action I’ve taken with the greatest reluctance, for five months we have been going through this and my legal team have advised me that this process is defective, unjust, it doesn’t allow you to state your case.”

Mr Salmond was facing journalists for the first time since the allegations against him were revealed by the Daily Record on Thursday evening.

He claimed he has been unable to see documentation that would allow him to challenge the accusations and described some of the claims as “patently ridiculous”.

Scotland’s current first minister and Mr Salmond’s successor as SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, said the allegations had been “extremely difficult to come to terms with”.

“This will be extremely upsetting to members of the SNP up and down the country,” Ms Sturgeon said. “It’s a difficult situation but what is important is that complaints are treated seriously, regardless of who the person complained about is. That is a principle that cannot be applied selectively no matter how difficult that may be for me, my party or for others.”

She added the two complaints had been raised against Mr Salmond this January and she had been aware of the situation since March.

Asked by the BBC if Mr Salmond is still a member of the SNP, Ms Sturgeon said: “These matters will be considered in the fullness of time.”

She added: ”This has not been a party investigation, I have limited information, for legal reasons that information I am not able to pass to the party, so the situation will undoubtedly develop as more information becomes available, but I am not able to confirm more than I have at this stage.“

Police Scotland said the allegations surrounding Mr Salmond’s conduct had been received by the force, which was carrying out an “assessment of information”.