Alex Salmond invited to give evidence at Holyrood committee on Friday

Alex Salmond has been invited to appear in front of the Holyrood committee investigating the Scottish Government’s handling of complaints against him on Friday.

The former first minister asked the harassment complaints committee to defer his in-person session after a decision was taken by the Scottish Parliament to remove, redact and republish written evidence he had provided following an intervention by the Crown.

At a meeting of the committee today to discuss the next steps for the inquiry, it agreed to invite Salmond to give evidence on Friday.

A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: "There was unanimous agreement in the committee that it wants to hear from Alex Salmond.

"His evidence has always been an important part of the committee’s work and as such the committee agreed that it would invite Mr Salmond to give evidence in person on Friday.

"The First Minister will then give evidence as the final witness to the inquiry on Wednesday.

"The committee remains determined to complete its task set by the Parliament and today agreed further actions in order to help them complete this work."

The parliamentary inquiry is looking into the conduct of the government following two harassment complaints made against the former first minister, which led to the process being deemed “unlawful” and over £500,000 being paid in legal expenses.