Alex Salmond's family say ‘cruel' and ‘distasteful' Nicola Sturgeon is cashing in on smears made against him

Irish Independent

3 days ago

Christina Hendry, who is the late former Scottish first minister's niece, said the claims Ms Sturgeon made about Mr Salmond in her newly published book were 'cruel' and 'distasteful'.
Ms Sturgeon, a former leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), used the memoir, ­Frankly, to allege that Salmond could have been behind a leak to a tabloid newspaper that he was under investigation for sexual misconduct.
She argued that the 2018 leak, which revealed the Scottish government's ­investigation into the claims, would have been 'classic Alex' as it would have allowed him to control the media narrative and 'cast himself as the victim of underhand dealing'.
Pouring scorn on his claim that there was a conspiracy to imprison him, she said it was 'a fabrication, the invention of a man who wasn't prepared to reflect honestly on his own conduct'.
Ms Sturgeon said the alleged conspirators were 'women who considered themselves victims of his behaviour' and were 'seeking support and comfort from each other'.
She accused Salmond of trying to 'distort and weaponise' genuine shock or trauma in a way that was 'truly disgraceful', adding 'it strikes at the heart of why I find it so hard to forgive him'.
Mr Salmond was cleared of 13 sexual assault charges in a separate criminal trial in 2020, but his lawyer admitted his client could 'have been a better man'.
Among the book's other claims were that Mr Salmond had not bothered to read the White Paper on independence produced for the 2014 referendum, which was the prospectus for Scotland leaving the UK.
Ms Hendry accused Ms Sturgeon of 'cowardice', saying she would not have made the claims while her uncle was still alive and argued 'she is using his name for relevance, to promote her book, to earn money'.
The 30-year-old also attacked Ms Sturgeon for having 'such disregard for the family and their feelings', including the impact on Moira, Mr Salmond's widow.
Mr Salmond's family broke their silence on the memoir as it emerged Ms Salmond is 'reactivating' legal action against the SNP government, which was first taken by Mr Salmond before he died aged 69 last October.
The Sunday Mail reported that a KC, two junior counsel and a lead investigator have been appointed in the case, which centres on the Scottish government's botched investigation into sexual misconduct claims against him.
Mr Salmond alleged there was a conspiracy among senior SNP figures around Nicola Sturgeon to imprison him, which she has vigorously denied.
At the time of his death the former first minister was seeking 'significant damages' and compensation for loss of earnings from the Scottish government, totalling a reported £3m.
A family friend told the Sunday Mail: 'Her case against the Scottish government is now live, the legal team is in place, the finance in place and this will be going ahead, no question of that. Alex may not be here to defend himself, but his family are determined to stand up to those who continue to attack him.'
Ms Hendry told the Scottish Sun on Sunday: 'She [Ms Salmond] should not have to be going through this and neither should any of the family. I find it very distasteful. In some ways it is quite cruel.
'She [Ms Sturgeon] is using his name for relevance, to promote her book, to earn money − she could have said these things in the past few years.
'She has chosen to wait until he is no longer here to defend himself. It's left to the family to deal with this and there's an element of cowardice to that.'
Asked if she believed Ms Sturgeon was cashing in on her fallout with her uncle, Ms Hendry said: 'Yes. I can't see any other reason. It seems quite a coincidence that the time she is saying this is the time she is selling her book.'
Mr Salmond won a judicial review in 2019 after a previous court case found that the way the Scottish government investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against him was handled was unlawful and 'tainted with apparent bias'.
The Scottish government only conceded the case at the 11th hour, resulting in Mr Salmond being handed £512,250 of taxpayers' money to cover his legal costs.