In the end the four-hour session ran for almost exactly six hours, and Alex Salmond looked like he could have done another six standing on his head. Now, it would be only fair to acknowledge that this site was on his side before the start, but by any rational objective assessment the former First Minister delivered the performance of his life.
(We use “performance” there in the Lionel Messi sense, not the Laurence Olivier one.)
The contrast with every other witness who’s appeared before the committee was night and day. With Salmond there was no evasion, no hesitation, no forgetting, no “I’ll get back to you on that in writing”. (We recommend the Twitter feed of Scotland Speaks for some choice clips.)
Every question was answered fully, directly, fluently and immediately, without recourse to notes, and the content was never less than devastating from his opening statement to the final surprise bombshell. We were exhausted just watching it.
His words, tone and body language all absolutely radiated candour, solemnity and honesty. When the SNP members tried to trip him up on some arcane point or other, he was on them like an extremely calm hawk, methodically tearing their assertions to ribbons with the correct fact or quote at his fingertips, and ice in his veins.
Salmond came across like a man who’d been planning this day for almost a year and wasn’t going to mess it up. And he didn’t. Heavens, how he didn’t.
From 12.30 this afternoon, Alex Salmond will attempt to tell the people of Scotland the truth about what happened to him in the last two years – a grave injustice which saw an innocent man have his reputation dragged through the gutter, be placed under incredible personal stress, be left greatly impoverished by proving his innocence, and then have the jury’s verdict endlessly traduced by the media and a gang of criminal conspirators protected from the consequences of their lies by lifelong anonymity.
His job will be a difficult one. Every single person in the room will be bitterly hostile to him – the four Unionist committee members because he’s Alex Salmond, and the others because he represents a deadly threat to the First Minister.
The inquiry’s convener – a woman sacked by Salmond years ago – will attempt to prevent him from presenting large swathes of evidence, despite having made him swear to tell “the whole truth”. The SNP members will try to run down the four-hour session with questions designed to only deflect from the real issue – the actions and behaviour of the Scottish Government. Andy Wightman will probably just cry.
We’ll be extremely surprised if there aren’t some attempts to slyly re-try Mr Salmond and paint him as a guilty man who cheated justice, and to drag up salacious details of the allegations in an effort to smear him in front of the cameras.
We believe Alex Salmond will be more than equal to the task.
When the Faculty Of Advocates – the most senior body of lawyers/QCs in the country – is handing out barely-veiled smackdowns like this to the First Minister, then you know you’re in some pretty uncharted jungle.
Is the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service of Scotland institutionally corrupt? I don’t believe so, but it’s certainly a troubled organisation.
The cost and reputational damage to it from the Rangers FC case are of a magnitude never seen before, and the actions in the Alex Salmond case and related actions by the Lord Advocate and Crown Agent have called its independence into question.
There must be structural change and individuals must be held to account.
I had hoped that Stewart Stevenson, the new National Secretary and convener of the Conferences Committee, would be similarly inclined.
In summary, my endeavours have been ignored.
In the three months since our election (supposedly more than halfway towards a spring conference), and despite repeated emails, documents and requests for meetings, the Conferences Committee has never been convened.
As a result I have resigned from both the committee and the SNP, and the reasons for my doing so are outlined below.
For the record, we thought you should see what the Scottish Parliament considers to be the appropriate treatment of an “Urgent Question”.
For a little over eight minutes, the Lord Advocate was allowed to ignore and avoid a series of questions put to him regarding the abjectly corrupt Crown Office’s recent interference with the work of the Fabiani inquiry by redacting evidence which in no way identified anyone as a complainer in the trial of Alex Salmond.
By the committee’s rules, if it’s not on the committee website then it doesn’t exist, and the redacted parts are – belatedly – no longer on the website. (As far as we can make out the unredacted version was finally removed around midnight last night.)
Farcically, she also denied even knowing that this question from James Matthews of Sky News was about Geoff Aberdein, who is the subject of all the redacted sections, which are all about the meeting Matthews was asking her about.
The First Minister is a liar and has all but given up on even the most token pretence otherwise. She is a disgrace to Scotland.
If we can somehow find the time amid the relentless blizzard of current Scottish political activity, we’re going to put together a list of all the legitimate and important questions that Alex Salmond’s lawyers have asked the Fabiani inquiry which haven’t even had the courtesy of a reply, let alone a satisfactory one.
We fully anticipate that the contents of the letter below, sent today, will be on that list.
FOREWORD: SNP MPs writing for this website about anything, especially a Plan B for independence, shouldn’t be controversial. We as a party should welcome diversity and inclusion – as indeed we do by giving quotes to every daily UK newspaper and broadcaster, as well as occasionally providing articles and financial help for them.
I for one would prefer it if people would get over posturing about the messenger and deal with the more important message. So let’s get to it.
It really can’t be overstated what extraordinary tweets these are.
That’s the editor of the conservative, ultra-establishment Spectator openly linking to a document that the Crown Office – the agent of the Queen herself – has threatened to prosecute the Scottish Parliament for publishing, and which has officially been deleted but is for some reason actually still available on the Parliament’s website.
The Spectator is giving the Queen the finger. And that’s not even the mad bit.
David on Governing For Beginners: “I’m afraid this post, at least, is not drivel. What the state funds, the state controls. We are all headed…” Jan 13, 06:58
DaveL on Governing For Beginners: “That’s pathetic! Calm down, throw something out your pram instead.” Jan 13, 02:25
Cynicus on Governing For Beginners: ““ Get some vitamin D into you Rev..” ========= An ye can tak the boay oot o video gemmes, aiblins…” Jan 12, 23:28
sam on Governing For Beginners: “Glubb Pasha an aw. Hi, Northy. Cheer up. The dancers from the Bolshy ballet will soon be in town. Serge…” Jan 12, 21:56
Scot Finlayson on Governing For Beginners: “This year will see the 100,000th killing, by assisted death, in Canada since the regime voted for it in 2016.…” Jan 12, 21:43
Hatey McHateface on Governing For Beginners: “As of 2025, concerning debt to GDP ratios, four EU countries were in a worse state than the UK. Looking…” Jan 12, 21:28
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Looky here, Professor Baird. DaveL wants to discuss classic poetry written in the Scots leid. This is gonna be great!” Jan 12, 21:14
Hatey McHateface on Governing For Beginners: ““You’ll know all about assisted death at the sharp end” Er, naw, Mastermind Dave. If I was at the assisted…” Jan 12, 21:02
DaveL on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““Walking the walk is a different matter.” Aye for sure it’s hard yards when you’re goose stepping everywhere.” Jan 12, 20:39
DaveL on Governing For Beginners: “You’ll know all about assisted death at the sharp end being a Bandera fanboy. It just occurred to me that…” Jan 12, 20:32
100%Yes on Governing For Beginners: “Calls for an “immediate” general election are set to be debated by MPs after more than 1 million people signed…” Jan 12, 20:09
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Aye, Alf, weel spattit. The extra word wrecked the scansion, and that would have sore aggrieved Grieve. My prediction about…” Jan 12, 20:01
Northcode on Governing For Beginners: “Sir John Glubb says this about the citizens at the heart of once great empires that are in their death…” Jan 12, 19:54
100%Yes on Governing For Beginners: “You can’t even make the SNP membership see sense on Independence never mind anything else. The SNP and its membership…” Jan 12, 19:48
Hatey McHateface on Governing For Beginners: “Want to bet I’m smart enough to attach a reply to the post I’m replying to? Another £20 says I…” Jan 12, 19:47
Hatey McHateface on Governing For Beginners: ““check out “THE FATE OF EMPIRES” by Sir John Glubb” Ooo Northy, fit are ye like, eh? Quoting an Inglis…” Jan 12, 19:38
agentx on Governing For Beginners: “I still have my ZX Spectrum with added full size keyboard, 64K expansion pack and printer. I will have to…” Jan 12, 19:33
Alf Baird on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Aye, weel spattit, Hatey. Ye shoud mebbe get a wee jobby as a colonial watchdug? Ye hiv tae handit tae…” Jan 12, 19:33
Laughable on Governing For Beginners: “Want to bet £20 you can spell ‘swallow,’ as in donkey spunk? I bet you can.” Jan 12, 19:32
Northcode on Governing For Beginners: “Aye, the end of empires is always a bit messy and the sheets on their death beds very often need…” Jan 12, 19:05
Hatey McHateface on Governing For Beginners: “Want to bet I can spell callow? £20 says I can.” Jan 12, 18:23
Laughable on Governing For Beginners: “The usual wretched, calow, shallow right-wing drivel from you.” Jan 12, 17:41
Hatey McHateface on Governing For Beginners: “Could be the explanation is a lot simpler. When so many people are now dependent on sucking at the swollen…” Jan 12, 17:32
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “I dunno what edition you’re looking at, Alf. But there’s no “(lose)” in the last line you quote in mine.…” Jan 12, 17:10
Patsy Millar on Governing For Beginners: “I’d never seen that film and am now in a somewhat traumatised state. I knew Tony Blair was evil and…” Jan 12, 16:32
sarah on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Good points, James! More and more I see what Cunningham Grahame meant when he said that the problem for regaining…” Jan 12, 16:30
James Cheyne on Governing For Beginners: “Does or will fear of dying prevent you dying, If that was the decision you allowed someone else to make,…” Jan 12, 16:29
sarah on Governing For Beginners: “Thank you, Rev – another clear explanation and description of the current state of our existence. Direct democracy would improve…” Jan 12, 16:26
Alf Baird on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “MacDiarmid was certainly conscious of the reality of colonialism, identity and loss of nationality for Scots under English domination, as…” Jan 12, 16:24
