Former Moray MP Angus Robertson was told about concerns relating to the conduct of Alex Salmond, it has been claimed.
It was reported yesterday by Sky News that the ex-leader of the SNP at Westminster was alerted to an alleged issue by staff at Edinburgh Airport.
The claim was made after it emerged that police investigating sexual harassment allegations against Mr Salmond had spoken to airport staff as part of their inquiries.
Sky News said that female employees had expressed concerns to airport managers about what they regarded as inappropriate behaviour by Mr Salmond a decade ago.
And the broadcaster said that while no formal complaint was made, airport officials related their concerns to Mr Robertson.
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Mr Salmond, the former first minister and SNP leader, has denied all claims of wrongdoing.
Mr Robertson, who was Moray MP from 2001 to 2017 and served as the party’s Westminster leader from 2007 to his election defeat last year, would yesterday say only that: “Given ongoing inquiries I am not making any comments at this stage.”
Scottish Labour’s Pauline McNeill described the claim as a “shocking revelation”.
“We already know that Nicola Sturgeon continued to meet Alex Salmond while he was being investigated by the Scottish Government over sexual harassment allegations,” she said.
“Now it seems former SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson was explicitly told about these concerns by officials at Edinburgh Airport.
“The SNP must urgently explain whether Mr Robertson, one of the most senior SNP politicians, passed these concerns on to party officials and what – if any – action was taken by the SNP in light of those concerns to protect women from sexual harassment.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives added: “We need to see proper transparency from the SNP about who knew what and what action was taken at the time.”
Edinburgh Airport staff were interviewed last week after initial inquiries into complaints by two Scottish Government employees brought alleged new information to light.
A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: “We can confirm that we are assisting Police Scotland with its inquiries. We cannot comment further at this time.”
The former first minister is taking court action against the Scottish Government to contest the complaints process activated against him in relation to sexual harassment claims.
Two allegations, which he strongly denies, were made in January. He has since resigned from the SNP and is pursuing a judicial review in Scotland’s highest civil court.
