There are very good reasons for the action raised in the Court of Session by Alex Salmond to continue and I hope reports that some public-spirited citizens are prepared to ensure this happens are accurate. Otherwise, the baddies will have won.

Mr Salmond’s sudden death has, in a sense, removed a barrier. This can no longer be portrayed as a personal battle motivated by revenge or ambition. In truth, it has always been much more because, beneath that surface, there are such significant issues about how Scotland has been, and continues to be, run.

The real charge sheet is that the SNP Government has perpetrated serial deception and contempt for safeguards which are supposed to limit the power of the executive – including, but by no means limited to, misleading Parliament, the abuse of court procedures, contempt for Freedom of Information and use of public money as if it is their own private piggy-bank.

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All of that is borne out by the extraordinary letter sent from the Freedom of Information Commissioner, David Hamilton, to the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government, John-Paul Marks. Rarely can such an excoriating indictment have been communicated from one senior Scottish civil servant to another.

My interpretation of Mr Hamilton’s charge sheet is that, in pursuit of Alex Salmond’s downfall, ministers and civil servants have been involved over a period of years in a campaign of deception, delay and cover-up to frustrate the ends of justice and the public’s right to know.

Some of the........

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