Two inquiries into what the first minister knew about claims against her predecessor threaten to split party ahead of crucial polls
As Alex Salmond exchanged a modest elbow bump with his QC, Gordon Jackson, following his acquittal on 13 charges of sexual assault at Edinburgh’s high court, the backdrop was a desolate Royal Mile, emptied of its usual tourist bustle by the encroaching pandemic last March.
The verdict in the nine-day trial of Scotland’s former first minister, who led the country to the brink of independence, ought to have dominated headlines for days: instead it was relegated within hours as a nationwide lockdown was announced.
