The long-awaited climacteric event in the Salmond/Sturgeon drama has finally taken place, when Alex Salmond gave evidence to the Holyrood inquiry into the Scottish government’s mishandling of its investigation of the sexual allegations against him, in a near-empty committee room at Holyrood. So spacious were the social distancing arrangements that the participants were not required to wear masks; they were all, however, wearing gags. This inquiry is a travesty: it is so circumscribed in what it can discuss that there is no prospect of its ever arriving at an informed verdict. The authority that has been enforcing this censorship is the Crown Office.