Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Alex Bell: Confidence in country may be shaken as committee implies political dishonesty

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon will highlight the contrast between the SNP's investment in Childcare and Tory cuts to child tax credits as she visits Dreams Daycare nursery in Insch.

Pictured are SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon being greeted by Alex Salmond.

01/05/17

Picture by HEATHER FOWLIE
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon will highlight the contrast between the SNP's investment in Childcare and Tory cuts to child tax credits as she visits Dreams Daycare nursery in Insch. Pictured are SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon being greeted by Alex Salmond. 01/05/17 Picture by HEATHER FOWLIE

Nationalist infighting not only risks the future of the movement, but the credibility of the nation.

In 2009, the SNP government arranged a tourism event called The Gathering. It racked up £600,000 in debts. Opposition parties were outraged. The public audit committee investigated.

The committee called the permanent secretary and the first minister, Alex Salmond, to give evidence. After deliberation, convener Hugh Henry MSP reported in 2011: “We were seriously concerned at the inconsistent and contradictory evidence we received.

“We were also unable to reconcile the inconsistent evidence we received on the meeting between the permanent secretary and a council official… The committee is unclear whether all of the possible alternatives to further public sector funding were fully explored before the Scottish Government concluded that additional public sector funding remained the only option.”

The matter ended there. The Gathering took place before my time in government. I have no privileged information.

A decade later the committee on the Scottish Government handling of harassment complaints is looking into the Alex Salmond saga.

The committee’s correspondence has warned the government not to erase text messages, phone records, emails or any other communication. Which is odd. No other committee in the history of Holyrood has gone out of its way to suggest in advance the evidence taken might be dodgy.

Alex Bell

When investigating our nation’s appalling poverty or its clubby bureaucracy, for example, the witnesses are taken at face value. Public sector Scotland has been protected from any insinuation of cover-up.

It has now signalled that public sector Scotland can evade.

Witnesses to the Salmond committee must give evidence under oath. Which is an interesting revelation coming from a committee chaired by a former government minister. Linda Fabiani was in Salmond’s first government until 2009.

It feels like the committee is getting its conclusion in early. To insinuate government officials and ministers can be economical with the truth is a dangerous game. Like a snake chewing at its tail. Before you know it, it eats itself.

Any assumption that people lie to this committee is based on the idea that ministers and officials are always economical with the truth or that misleading a Holyrood committee is an easy thing to do. Did they lie all those years ago to Hugh Henry’s one? Perhaps, heaven forfend, ministers and officials have been soft-soaping evidence all along to the much-vaunted committee system, relying on MSPs to miss the point, or party loyalty not to test the government of the day?

You might say the committee is unique in investigating the government’s handling of a matter but, in truth, all Holyrood committees do that. It is the point of the committee system to scrutinise government.

Perhaps this explains the SNP’s reputation for competence. Could a shared interest keep ministers and officials to an agreed line, the absence of whistle-blowers and refuseniks never spoiling the message? So many questions – it’s almost a pity a committee doesn’t look into it.

By opening this matter up, the Salmond inquiry becomes an investigation into the heart of devolution, raising questions about whether the Parliament has ever got a straight answer, explaining why so little has actually changed since 1999, and implying that for all the talk of difference, the new political class are as wedded to the British political model of secrecy and evasion as ever.

Maybe this is why Scotland, failing on so many measures, is content with itself. Nobody ever tells it the truth.

Fabiani’s committee has spread doubt about the integrity of the government, without any member previously stating they doubt the evidence they are given by officials.

Should the Salmond committee go further than The Gathering report a decade ago, and accuse the first minister and permanent secretary of being economical with the truth, then it detonates devolved government.

Who can we trust if not the top two people? Alternatively if it fudges the conclusion, what’s the point of the exercise?

It seems to me that a country that can reverse over 100,000 exam results within days, but where nobody admits blame, is a nation that has got used to lying to itself.

The Salmond committee might be about to establish that as fact. In so doing, it may destroy the reputation of Scotland.