| The MSP, who won £200,000 in August after successfully suing the News of the World over allegations about his private life, will talk of his newly-founded party Solidarity at a meeting in the Marryat Hall tonight.
When he arrived in the city for an early engagement with students at Dundee University, there was none of the anticipated media frenzy.
Accompanied by a few supporters, Mr Sheridan walked unhindered into the meeting.
Around 50 students were in the Baxter Suite at the Tower Building to hear the MSP’s views on a diverse range of issues, including student debt, low pay and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr Sheridan was also due to meet Fire Brigade Union representative Jim Malone before paying a visit to Tayside Fire and Rescue headquarters in Macalpine Road.
Yesterday the Crown Office instructed police to begin a criminal inquiry into allegations of perjury by witnesses who appeared during the trial.
The former SSP leader brought his action after the newspaper published a series of articles alleging he cheated on his wife and took part in orgies.
The 23-day case subsequently heard a series of witnesses give conflicting statements about alleged events and meetings involving Sheridan.
Among those who testified against him were 11 members of the SSP, whom Sheridan accused of trying to oust him from the party.
The members told the defamation trial that Mr Sheridan had admitted visiting a swingers club in Manchester.
But four of his colleagues insisted he had made no such admission.
In the wake of the trial the Crown Office instructed the procurator fiscal in Edinburgh to examine all the evidence given in the defamation case to see if there were grounds for instructing a criminal investigation.
Mr Sheridan said the Crown Office is “only doing its job”.
“There’s nothing extraordinary in what the Crown Office has done,” he added.
“It is a rehashed announcement from six weeks ago — there’s nothing new.”
The trial and its outcome led to public acrimony within the SSP, which culminated in Mr Sheridan and MSP Rosemary Byrne leaving to set up the breakaway party Solidarity.
On Sunday, the News of the World claimed to have video footage showing Mr Sheridan admitting he had attended a swingers club.
Mr Sheridan denounced the paper’s claim as a “pack of lies”, saying the tape was manufactured. The MSP added, “The attack on me is political. They despise socialism and trade union values. They want to destroy Solidarity and ruin my marriage. They will fail on both counts.” |
