Alex Salmond will not appear before the Scottish Parliament committee on Wednesday, when it meets to investigate the Scottish government’s botched handling of harassment complaints against him.
It comes as the former first minister’s written evidence was removed from parliament’s website, and replaced with a redacted version, after the Crown Office wrote to Holyrood’s corporate body to request such a move over contempt of court fears.
“Mr Salmond has informed the committee that he will not be attending tomorrow’s meeting to give evidence,” a parliamentary spokeswoman said on Tuesday evening. “The committee will instead meet in private to discuss the implications of Mr Salmond’s response and the next steps for its work.”
Meanwhile, Michael Gove has admitted that the Brexit trade deal will not be fully approved until the end of April as the UK has agreed that the provisional application of the agreement should be extended.
Mr Gove said on Tuesday that extending the deadline for ratifying the deal, as the EU had requested, was “not the UK’s preferred outcome” and would “prolong uncertainty” for businesses and individuals.
