Giving evidence under oath, Hynd conceded he knew of rumours about alleged misconduct involving Salmond, which Salmond has repeatedly denied, before choosing to include former ministers in the new anti-harassment policy. He insisted he alone decided to make former ministers the focus of his first draft of the policy, partly because he was in charge of the Scottish government’s ministerial code. The Scottish government investigation into the claims was quashed by the court of session, Scotland’s civil court, in January 2019 after he sued. Richards and Hynd insisted the anti-harassment policy was robust, lawful and appropriate, and said it was still in force. Richards admitted, however, that Salmond’s court challenge had established it had not been properly applied during the Salmond inquiry.

Source: The Guardian August 25, 2020 16:52 UTC