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Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of breaking the ministerial code when she “failed to feed back the basic facts” about meetings and discussions she had with former First Minister Alex Salmond between March and July 2018. The investigation will examine meetings between the pair, which took place during an internal Government probe into complaints against Mr Salmond when he was in office. Ms Sturgeon has denied the allegations.

Ms Sturgeon is accused of trying to influence the sexual harassment investigation.

A cross-party committee will look into the Scottish Government’s handling of the probe into sexual misconduct claims made against Mr Salmond in 2018.

John Swinney, the deputy first minister, has said he was restarting the referral for the investigation, after it was delayed to prevent prejudicing the criminal proceedings against Mr Salmond, which concluded in March 2020.

The High Court cleared Mr Salmond of all sexual assault charges.

The referral was then further delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

But Mr Swinney said the investigation could now restart, and will be carried out by James Hamilton, a former director of public prosecutions in Ireland, who will act as independent adviser.

He will have the power to interview any minister or official in the Scottish government and examine documents related to the meetings and discussions between the First Minister and Mr Salmond.

The former First Minister could also be called to give evidence.

The investigation will determine if there is any evidence that Ms Sturgeon attempted to use information discussed during those meetings to influence the conduct of the Government investigation into Salmond.

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The Government inquiry into the complaints against Mr Salmond was abounded after he launched a legal challenge and the Court of Session found the handling of the investigation was “tainted by apparent bias”.

It has recently been revealed there are conflicting accounts on when the First Minister was first informed of the complaints.

Ms Sturgeon told parliament she first became aware of the complaints against Mr Salmond when he told her himself on April 2, 2018.

She told Holyrood: “On 2 April, he informed me about the complaints against him, which – of course – in line with the procedure, the permanent secretary [Leslie Evans] had not done.”

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But a previously unseen account of an earlier meeting contradicts her version of events.

It indicates she was involved in a “discussion about the investigation” before the date she gave to parliament – on March 29.

The earlier meeting was with Mr Salmond’s former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein.

An account of the meeting, revealed by SkyNews, stated: “There was discussion about the investigation, the process of it, the fact it was a civil service investigation being conducted by civil servants.”

In response to the new account, the Scottish government said: “The First Minister has made clear she stands by what she said in Parliament.”

The contradiction surrounding Ms Sturgeon’s version of events centres on what she knew of the Scottish government’s inquiry – and when.

A Scottish government spokesperson told Sky News that Ms Sturgeon does not dispute that the 29 March meeting took place but refutes the suggestion that it involved discussion of the Scottish government’s Salmond inquiry.

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