Murrell's 'Manuel Defence' (3)
The SNP's former Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill, now the MP for East Lothian, keeps up his attack on the party's chief executive, Peter Murrell.
Read the full story in the link below to The Herald.
SNP MP calls for Sturgeon's husband to be suspended as party chief executive
By Tom Gordon - The Herald
SNP MP calls for Sturgeon's husband to be suspended as part chief executive
KENNY MacAskill has suggested Nicola Sturgeon’s husband should be suspended from his job as chief executive of the SNP for “conduct unbecoming”.
He said Peter Murrell should be investigated after the leak of WhatsApp messages which appear to show him urging police and prosecution action against Alex Salmond.
The messages date from January 2019, when Mr Salmond won a civil legal action against Ms Sturgeon’s government and was shortly afterwards charged with sexual assault.
The Crown Office last week instructed Police Scotland to investigate the leaked messages, which may have come from material disclosed to Mr Salmond’s trial defence team.
SNP MP calls for Sturgeon's husband to be suspended as part chief executive
KENNY MacAskill has suggested Nicola Sturgeon’s husband should be suspended from his job as chief executive of the SNP for “conduct unbecoming”.
He said Peter Murrell should be investigated after the leak of WhatsApp messages which appear to show him urging police and prosecution action against Alex Salmond.
The messages date from January 2019, when Mr Salmond won a civil legal action against Ms Sturgeon’s government and was shortly afterwards charged with sexual assault.
The Crown Office last week instructed Police Scotland to investigate the leaked messages, which may have come from material disclosed to Mr Salmond’s trial defence team.
Murrell's 'Manuel Defence' 2 ((21/09/20)
Peter Murrell has come under attack from the SNP's former Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill over a claim that he was directly involved in the Alex Salmond affair.
Mr MacAskill has passed a document to Police Scotland which appears to show the SNP's chief executive backing police action against the former First Minister.
How very odd - read the full story via the link below to Paul Hutcheon's piece in the Daily Record.
MP demands probe into Nicola Sturgeon's husband's 'secret' WhatsApp messages about Alex Salmond
Former SNP Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has demanded an investigation over claims a 'leaked' document appears to show Peter Murrell backing police action against the former First Minister.
By Paul Hutcheon - Daily Record
Ex-Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has demanded a probe after a leaked document showed Nicola Sturgeon’s husband appearing to back police action against Alex Salmond.
A document passed to MacAskill appears to show SNP chief executive Peter Murrell calling for pressure to be put on the police over the Salmond case.
Another message appears to show Murrell supporting action by prosecutors in relation to the former first minister.
A document passed to MacAskill appears to show SNP chief executive Peter Murrell calling for pressure to be put on the police over the Salmond case.
Another message appears to show Murrell supporting action by prosecutors in relation to the former first minister.
SNP MP MacAskill has passed the information to a Holyrood committee that is investigating the Salmond controversy as well as prosecutors at the Crown Office.
He said: “I can confirm that I received an anonymous letter containing a document. I have notified both Alex Salmond and the Crown and have passed it to the inquiry committee at the Scottish Parliament.
“I would like the Scottish Parliament and the Crown Office to investigate the contents of this document.”
MSPs are examining the Scottish Government’s botched handling of sexual misconduct allegations against Salmond when he was first minister.
Murrell's 'Manuel Defence' (10/09/2020)
I am not one of life's sceptics or a natural conspiracy theorist, but I have to say that Peter Murrell's explanation that he 'knew nothing' about Alex Salmond making two private visits to his home in 2018 sounds completely absurd.
Nicola Sturgeon has previously claimed that these visits were to do with SNP business and not the Scottish Government, but Peter Murrell is the chief executive of the SNP, as well as Nicola Sturgeon's husband.
So it simply beggars belief that Peter Murrell turned a blind eye to what was going on because it's not exactly every day that a former First Minister turns up at your front door to have two separate meetings on important SNP business with your wife.
Read Paul Hutcheon's report via the link below to the Daily Record.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/nicola-sturgeons-husband-says-not-22655277
Sturgeon's husband says she did not tell him about Alex Salmond sexual misconduct complaints
Peter Murrell said his wife informed him she "couldn’t discuss the details" about her meetings with Salmond on the complaints
By Paul Hutcheon - Daily Record
Sturgeon and Murrell - PA Image
Nicola Sturgeon’s husband has said she did not inform him that sexual misconduct complaints had been made to the Government about Alex Salmond.
Peter Murrell, who is the SNP chief executive, said his wife told him she could not discuss what was talked about at meetings between her and Salmond at the couple’s home.
He said he became aware of the complaints after they were made public in August 2018.
Salmond took legal action and the internal Government probe was ruled to be unlawful and tainted by apparent bias.
The botched investigation cost the taxpayer over £500,000 and led to a special Holyrood committee being set up.
A key issue being examined by MSPs is contact between Sturgeon and Salmond when the investigation was ongoing. The pair met at Sturgeon’s house and also spoke on the telephone.
Murrell, the SNP’s long standing chief executive, was asked a series of questions by the committee about when he first knew of the complaints and the meetings between his wife and Salmond.
In a response, he said: “I became aware that complaints had been made under the Scottish Government procedure when the matter became public in August 2018.
“I knew about the meetings between Nicola and Alex Salmond at our home on 2 April and 14 July 2018 and I had the sense that something serious was being discussed. Nicola told me she couldn’t discuss the details. The nature of Nicola’s job means that when she tells me she can’t discuss something, I don’t press it.”
