Alex Salmond lashes out at Nicola Sturgeon in feud rocking Scotland

Explosive row could derail SNP leader's push for independence

Former Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond criticised his successor and protégé First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, claiming "Scotland's leadership has failed".

His remarks were made at his long-awaited appearance at a Scottish Parliament inquiry into the devolved government's handling of sexual harassment claims against him in 2018.

The Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, found the investigation to be unlawful and "tainted by apparent bias".

The row at the top of Scottish politics potentially has huge implications for the SNP's independence push before elections in May.

Mr Salmond accused Ms Sturgeon of misleading the parliament about her role in the investigation, her closest allies of conspiring to have him imprisoned, and Scotland's prosecution service of working with the government against him.

The feud could deal a blow to Ms Sturgeon's hopes of Scotland gaining independence from the UK, which at the moment depend on the SNP performing well in May's local elections.

If a first minister is found to have misled parliament, they are required by the ministerial code to resign.

"For two years and six months, this has been a nightmare," Mr Salmond said.

"The failures of leadership are many and obvious. The government acted illegally but somehow no one is to blame."

Mr Salmond was arrested in January 2019 and charged with multiple counts of sexual assault - including attempted rape - against nine women while he was serving as Scotland's first minister.

He was cleared of all 13 charges at a trial last March, where he said the claims were "deliberate fabrications for a political purpose".

The most immediate threat to Ms Sturgeon is the accusation that she misled parliament over a meeting between herself and Mr Salmond's former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, in March 2018, when she is said to have first been told about the allegations against Mr Salmond.

Ms Sturgeon initially told parliament she only learned of the allegations from Mr Salmond himself a few days later. She later claimed to have "forgotten" about the first meeting.

Ms Sturgeon - riding high in the polls on the back of her handling of the coronavirus outbreak - is pushing for another referendum on whether Scotland should leave the UK and become an independent nation.

Ms Sturgeon's administration in Edinburgh has control over numerous policy areas, separately from the central government in London, including health and education.

A 2014 referendum in Scotland resulted in 55 per cent vote "no" to independence.

However, Ms Sturgeon is hoping a resounding SNP victory in the local elections will provide a mandate that the British government would find hard to ignore.