Alex Salmond will appear before the Holyrood committee investigating the government’s handling of harassment complaints against him this Friday.
Nicola Sturgeon is expected to appear on Wednesday in what could be a dramatic week in Scottish politics.
The former First Minister cancelled a scheduled appearance for today after the Crown Office demanded that some of his written evidence which had already been published by Holyrood, be withdrawn and redacted.
Salmond offered to reschedule his appearance for this Friday in order to give him time to take legal advice on the Crown Office stance. MSPs on the investigating committee agreed to invite Salmond to appear again when they met on Wednesday.
The move followed 24 hours of chaos in which the Scottish Parliament agreed to redact large sections of Salmond’s written evidence accusing Sturgeon of misleading Holyrood and breaching the ministerial code.
The replacement of the former SNP leader’s “bombshell” submission from the parliament website with a revised version came after a warning by the Crown Office.
In his much anticipated appearance in front of the committee Salmond, who was also acquitted of sexual offences charges after a criminal trial last year, is expected to elaborate on claims that SNP figures close to Nicola Sturgeon plotted against him.
A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: “There was unanimous agreement in the Committee that it wants to hear from Alex Salmond. His evidence has always been an important part of the Committee’s work and as such the Committee agreed that it would invite Mr Salmond to give evidence in person on Friday. The First Minister will then give evidence as the final witness to the inquiry on Wednesday."
“The Committee remains determined to complete its task set by the Parliament and today agreed further actions in order to help them complete this work.”
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