THE two civil servants whose complaints kicked off the Scottish Government's original investigation into Alex Salmond told MSPs of a culture in which a "blind eye" was turned to unacceptable behaviour. 

They also described being taken aback by the lack of support offered by the Government during the police investigation into the former First Minister and the subsequent criminal trial, saying they had felt "dropped" and "left to swim".

The two women, known as Ms A and Ms B, gave evidence in private to Holyrood's inquiry into the saga to protect their identities. 

READ MORE: Confirmed: Nicola Sturgeon 'misled' Alex Salmond inquiry, MSPs find

Some of their evidence was previously leaked to a Sunday newspaper, sparking a formal complaint from the women.

Their comments are included in the inquiry's final report, which was published this morning.

The women told the committee of an organisational culture which they felt did not challenge inappropriate behaviour by the former First Minister.

One told MSPs "there was complicity across a number of fronts in terms of people not challenging that behaviour", adding: “The culture that existed leading up for a number of years to the point at which we would have had to make complaints was about not challenging behaviours in the first instance, and perhaps there were not clear boundaries for what was appropriate behaviour, or leadership in the organisation to challenge behaviours.”

One of the women spoke of what she saw as a permissive attitude towards unacceptable behaviour at the time of the alleged incidents. 

She said: "Leslie Evans, as permanent secretary, talked about the concept that what you permit, you promote.

"I have always thought that that is quite a nice encapsulation of this, and I think that it is a sad indictment of what happened at that time that such behaviour was permitted and a blind eye was turned to it.”

One told MSPs that "making complaints was simply not the done thing" and dismissed the complaints process as "laughable".

The committee was also told by Ms A and Ms B that they had received no support from the Scottish Government since the conclusion of its process.

One of the women said: "I was quite taken aback by the lack of contact and support from the Scottish Government after the conclusion of its process.

"We were given regular updates over the period of the judicial review, but after that we were basically just dropped.

"We went through the entirety of the police investigation and the criminal trial with next to no contact from the Scottish Government, let alone any kind of support.

"There might be good reasons for that, but I certainly expected something, given that the Government initiated the police referral and given the duty of care for us as staff members or former staff members, which the Government had placed a lot of emphasis on during the process.

"I was quite taken aback because it felt as though we were just left to swim.”

Both women expressed concerns about the impact of the saga on others coming forward.

One said: "The handling of these complaints has been quite damaging—unsurprisingly, perhaps—to the prospect of other people coming forward."

They also spoke of the "politicisation" of the issue, as well as the impact of social media and other coverage. 

One said: "We are now having our motives impugned and questioned in a way that ascribes all sorts of, frankly, nonsensical political motivation.

"I cannot possibly imagine what, if I was part of some sort of ulterior plan, I could possibly have achieved from going through this.

"The impact on my life has been massive, and there is nothing that I could have gained from this at all."

One of the women added: “It went from feeling that we had made people feel able to speak up—when they thought that they would never be able to—to feeling that we had just created a position that left them open to so much often personally directed abuse and misrepresentation on social media, so it has been completely crushing."

READ MORE: SNP members of Salmond inquiry slam 'leaks, smears and betrayal of complainers'

The Holyrood committee was looking at how the Scottish Government bungled its probe into sexual misconduct allegations levelled against Mr Salmond in 2018.

The former First Minister had the exercise set aside in a judicial review after the Government conceded it had been tainted by apparent bias, a flaw that left taxpayers with a £512,000 bill for his costs.

By a majority vote, MSPs on the inquiry concluded that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon misled the committee and so misled parliament in her written evidence.

Only the four SNP members cleared their party leader.

The findings are separate from those of Irish lawyer James Hamilton, who reported on Monday that there had been no breach of the ministerial code by the First Minister over her role in the saga.

Mr Salmond was cleared of sexual assault charges after a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh last year.