Latest news with #GeoffAberdein
Times
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Times
Alex Salmond aide accuses Nicola Sturgeon of sharing ‘falsehoods'
Alex Salmond's former chief of staff has accused Nicola Sturgeon of 'speaking ill of the dead' and spreading 'falsehoods' in sections of her memoir in which she discussed her predecessor. In his first public comments since the book's release, Geoff Aberdein has mounted a robust defence of Salmond, rebutting Sturgeon's claims regarding the leak of sexual harassment allegations, his involvement in the 2014 independence white paper and his stance on same-sex marriage legislation. 'I was brought up that you didn't speak ill of the dead,' Aberdein told the Holyrood Sources podcast. 'But if you're going to speak ill of the dead, at least make your claims accurate.' He went on to describe some of Sturgeon's assertions as 'at worst, falsehoods, at best, fabrications'. Aberdein's comments echo the frustrations of others close to the late first minister, and the former aide confirmed that Salmond's wife, Moira, was 'particularly upset and frustrated at a lot of what has been said of late'. At the weekend, The Sunday Times revealed that Salmond's niece had accused Sturgeon of lacking human decency after the 'new wave of personal attacks' and 'scurrilous accusations' in her memoir, Frankly. Christina Hendry said the former first minister's comments had caused further distress to the family of the Alba Party founder ten months after his death. A key point of contention is Sturgeon's suggestion that Salmond himself was responsible for leaking the allegations of his conduct to the Daily Record. Aberdein describes this claim as patently false, citing conversations with Salmond's then legal brief, Duncan Hamilton KC. According to Aberdein, Hamilton and Salmond were together when the newspaper's call came in. 'The shock was obvious,' he said, adding that Salmond and his legal team were meeting that evening with a clear purpose: 'To draft a legal summons to prevent Nicola Sturgeon's government from making the allegations public.' 'They were going to the Court of Session that night for an interim interdict,' Aberdein said. 'To suggest Alex was simultaneously leaking documents damaging to his reputation whilst at the same time paying lawyers a lot of money to get a court order to prevent publication of the same material is just utterly absurd.' He added: 'It's Nicola Sturgeon's position that Alex Salmond called the cops on himself essentially. That is ridiculous.' • Nicola Sturgeon: Online trolls laughed about my miscarriage The source of the leak has been a long-running issue. In 2021, the Conservative MP, Sir David Davis, a friend of Alex Salmond, used parliamentary privilege to claim that Sturgeon's chief of staff, Liz Lloyd, had been the source of the leak. Davis repeated the claim in the House of Commons last year, stating he had 'personally met with a witness who has made the statement that he was told by the then political editor of the Daily Record that the story was in fact leaked to them by Liz Lloyd'. Liz Lloyd has denied the allegation. Aberdein also took issue with Sturgeon's claim that Salmond was not involved in the drafting of the independence white paper, Scotland's Future. While he conceded that Salmond had delegated the drafting to Sturgeon, he insisted it was 'utter nonsense' to suggest Salmond was disengaged from the process. Aberdein stated that Salmond was 'actively involved in the policy process which underpinned the contents of the white paper', including discussions on economic and foreign policy. Aberdein dismissed Sturgeon's assertion that Salmond opposed gay marriage legislation to avoid harming support for independence ahead of the 2014 referendum. Aberdein pointed out that as first minister of a majority SNP government, 'if Alex Salmond didn't want legislation to be progressed … it wouldn't have been progressed'. Sturgeon was approached for comment.
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Former Salmond staffer rejects Sturgeon claims in book as ‘obviously false'
Nicola Sturgeon's new book contains 'falsehoods at worst, fabrications at best' about her predecessor, Alex Salmond's former chief of staff has claimed. Geoff Aberdein, who worked for Mr Salmond when he was first minister, hit out at Ms Sturgeon, saying: 'I was brought up that you didn't speak ill of the dead. 'But I think if you're going to speak ill of the dead, at least make your claims accurate.' He told the Holyrood Sources podcast that Mr Salmond's widow Moira was 'particularly upset and frustrated at a lot of what has been said' about her late husband, who died suddenly in October 2024. Mr Aberdein continued: 'I think it was important to set out and correct the record not just because Alex is not in position to defend himself, but for myself as well and the series of other officials and civil servants that have contacted me.' Claims that Mr Salmond was the person who leaked the story of the sexual harassment allegations against him are 'obviously false', Mr Aberdein insisted. He said that when his former boss took the phone call to say the story about the allegations was being published by the Daily Record he was actually meeting lawyers to 'draft a legal summons to prevent Nicola Sturgeon's Government from making the allegations public'. Mr Aberdeen said: 'To suggest Alex was simultaneously leaking documents deeply damaging to his reputation whilst at the same time paying lawyers a lot of money to get a court order to prevent publication of the same material is just utterly absurd.' Mr Salmond went on to be acquitted of all the charges against him in a court case in 2020. Mr Aberdein also dismissed claims by Ms Sturgeon that Mr Salmond 'didn't read' the white paper on independence which had been produced by the Scottish government in the run up to the 2014 referendum. In her recently published memoir, Frankly, Ms Sturgeon spoke out about her 'cold fury' with her former leader over his 'abdication of responsibility' on the key document. Mr Aberdein – who said he would not be reading the book – accepted that his former boss 'delegated the responsibility for drafting the white paper to Nicola Sturgeon'. However he insisted: 'To suggest, as I think was the purpose of this story, that he wasn't engaged in the process of a prospectus for independence is utterly nonsense. The former Salmond chief of staff also rejected claims that Mr Salmond was 'apparently against same-sex marriage' – saying that this was 'demonstrably false'. Mr Aberdein told the podcast Mr Salmond had 'declared his personal support for gay marriage for the first time' in a newspaper article in April 2011. And he added that while the SNP election manifesto that year had pledged to consult on the issue Mr Salmond 'chose to come out… excuse the pun, the turn of phrase, ahead of that result, to say that he personally supported it.' With the SNP having won the 2011 Holyrood election, Mr Aberdein recalled 'being in the room with advisors, civil servants and indeed ministers about how we would go about reassuring different sections of our society about that legislation, particularly religious leaders and other civic leaders'. He also made the 'obvious point' that 'if Alex Salmond didn't want legislation to be progressed, he was the first minister of a majority SNP government, it wouldn't have been progressed'. Mr Aberdeen said: 'The point falls down on that alone.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Salmond staffer rejects Sturgeon claims in book as ‘obviously false'
Nicola Sturgeon's new book contains 'falsehoods at worst, fabrications at best' about her predecessor, Alex Salmond's former chief of staff has claimed. Geoff Aberdein, who worked for Mr Salmond when he was first minister, hit out at Ms Sturgeon, saying: 'I was brought up that you didn't speak ill of the dead. 'But I think if you're going to speak ill of the dead, at least make your claims accurate.' He told the Holyrood Sources podcast that Mr Salmond's widow Moira was 'particularly upset and frustrated at a lot of what has been said' about her late husband, who died suddenly in October 2024. Mr Aberdein continued: 'I think it was important to set out and correct the record not just because Alex is not in position to defend himself, but for myself as well and the series of other officials and civil servants that have contacted me.' Claims that Mr Salmond was the person who leaked the story of the sexual harassment allegations against him are 'obviously false', Mr Aberdein insisted. He said that when his former boss took the phone call to say the story about the allegations was being published by the Daily Record he was actually meeting lawyers to 'draft a legal summons to prevent Nicola Sturgeon's Government from making the allegations public'. Mr Aberdeen said: 'To suggest Alex was simultaneously leaking documents deeply damaging to his reputation whilst at the same time paying lawyers a lot of money to get a court order to prevent publication of the same material is just utterly absurd.' Mr Salmond went on to be acquitted of all the charges against him in a court case in 2020. Mr Aberdein also dismissed claims by Ms Sturgeon that Mr Salmond 'didn't read' the white paper on independence which had been produced by the Scottish government in the run up to the 2014 referendum. In her recently published memoir, Frankly, Ms Sturgeon spoke out about her 'cold fury' with her former leader over his 'abdication of responsibility' on the key document. Mr Aberdein – who said he would not be reading the book – accepted that his former boss 'delegated the responsibility for drafting the white paper to Nicola Sturgeon'. However he insisted: 'To suggest, as I think was the purpose of this story, that he wasn't engaged in the process of a prospectus for independence is utterly nonsense. The former Salmond chief of staff also rejected claims that Mr Salmond was 'apparently against same-sex marriage' – saying that this was 'demonstrably false'. Mr Aberdein told the podcast Mr Salmond had 'declared his personal support for gay marriage for the first time' in a newspaper article in April 2011. And he added that while the SNP election manifesto that year had pledged to consult on the issue Mr Salmond 'chose to come out… excuse the pun, the turn of phrase, ahead of that result, to say that he personally supported it.' With the SNP having won the 2011 Holyrood election, Mr Aberdein recalled 'being in the room with advisors, civil servants and indeed ministers about how we would go about reassuring different sections of our society about that legislation, particularly religious leaders and other civic leaders'. He also made the 'obvious point' that 'if Alex Salmond didn't want legislation to be progressed, he was the first minister of a majority SNP government, it wouldn't have been progressed'. Mr Aberdeen said: 'The point falls down on that alone.'
