Alex Salmond given new date to appear before harassment committee

Alex Salmond is expected to give evidence to the committee investigating the botched handling of complaints against him on Tuesday, 9 February.

The Holyrood inquiry set the date after the former first minister's lawyers said he was available "on any day, at any time" during the week beginning 8 February.

His representative David McKie had said in a letter to the committee yesterday: "If necessary he is prepared to consider giving evidence in an alternative format although he (and the committee) would prefer an in-person session."

The committee confirmed the new date today as it looks to finish the process of evidence gathering, so it can publish its report and give the Scottish Government time to respond before the dissolution of parliament in late March.

Convener Linda Fabiani said in a letter to Salmond: "The committee remains very concerned about the tight timescale we are working to in order to complete our work before the end of the session.

"However, given that the committee is also awaiting the response to the section 24 notice served on COPFS, we have agreed to accept your offer to attend the following week.

"The only date that we can offer is Tuesday 9 February and should that not be possible, I am afraid that no further dates can be offered."

Last week the committee told Salmond it would not be able to hear from him after 4 February, due to time constraints.

Fabiani said in a letter dated 22 January it could not risk "being in a position where it has insufficient time to report to parliament".

However, it has now opted to invite Salmond to appear on 9 February.

The Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints is tasked with examining what went wrong with the Scottish Government's investigation into complaints against Salmond.

The taxpayer was forced to pick up Salmond's £500,000 legal bill after the Court of Session ruled the government's investigation had been "unlawful".