Allegations against Alex Salmond.

Alex Salmod was known as a hard taskmaster who expected civil servants to pull their weight and make every penny of the budget work for Scotland. As does the current Scottish Government under Nicola Sturgeon.
Compare and contrast with the previous labour administration at Holyrood, who enjoyed a cosier relationship with the Scottish civil service and succeeded in returning over one billion pounds unspent to Westminster.

I understand why you want him to be proved innocent Granny23 and he may well be.
However you know what they say about husbands who have affairs, the wife is the last to know, so you could also be wrong about him.
Nobody should be judged beforehand, so the old 'waiting and seeing' [rarely popular] is the best bet.

the supposed relationship between Alex and Tasmina Ahmed Sheik
Oh - surely not!! I am sure he is a man who likes to get a word in edgeways.

Granny23 I understand your turmoil but am surprised at you saying

In this case I do not know the complainers, nor the substance of the complaints.

As I said earlier, in last week's Sunday Times one of his accusers was named, presumably with her consent, and the details were quite explicit - touching of breasts and lying on top of her. I think she was a civil servant.

Also, in his BBC interview he says 'I'm no saint, I've got flaws'.

As a feminist, how would you normally interpret that phrase? Isn't it often shorthand for the office pest who is, at the very least, too touchy-feely, gives excessive hugs and is quite frankly a total pain the arse for the women who have to work for such a man in a more senior position. I expect many of us suffered this in the past.

What do you think he meant by being no saint, bearing in mind the nature of the interview?

I respect Granny23's obviously heartfelt post. She clearly shows the distress and concern that so many feel.
As to the outcome - time will tell.

I came across this report on the situation. Towards the end, it briefly describes the complaints process. It doesn't seem as if making public the complaints or the investigation results should form any part of the process yet the FM stated that that was the intention of the Permanent Secretary.
www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/politics/holyrood/1548408/alex-salmond-admits-he-is-no-saint-but-strongly-denies-sexual-harassment-claims/

Do I trust my own instincts about this man whom I have known for so long, or stick with my preset stance of always supporting the victim of abuse?
I think, Granny23 that all you can do is adopt a 'wait and see' policy.
Some of the nicest, most gentlemanly men have turned out to have feet of clay when it comes to this kind of thing and pick their victims carefully.
Sometimes victims prove to be fabricating stories for revenge or for another reason.

I do hope we get to the truth of the matter.

If AS is proved to be guilty, I will be very annoyed with him for creating such a public fuss about his innocence as well as for the original offences.
I hope he is proved to be innocent, however.