Ruth Davidson tells Nicola Sturgeon: ‘I don’t deal in conspiracies’

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Nicola Sturgeon has been dealt a crushing blow today with the Alex Salmond inquiry concluding she did mislead the Holyrood inquiry. MSPs voted against her, finding she had given an “inaccurate” account with a majority according to sources. Now the Scottish First Minister has come under increasing pressure to stand down ahead of May’s election, but will she be forced to resign her post?

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, misled parliament over the Alex Salmond affair, Members of Scottish Parliament concluded.

The Holyrood inquiry reached the conclusion by a majority vote (five to four) ahead of the publication of its final report according to a source.

Committee members are said to have decided Ms Sturgeon had misled the committee itself and as such misled parliament and potentially breached ministerial code.

The result of the inquiry is likely to add to pressure upon Ms Sturgeon to step down from her role.

The Holyrood inquiry found Ms Sturgeon had given an “inaccurate account”.

But it did not say she had done so “knowingly”, according to the broadcaster.

The act of “knowingly” misleading the Scottish Parliament is the threshold for resignation under the Scottish Ministerial Code.

The committee’s finding, which passed by a majority, reads: “The committee notes there is a fundamental contradiction in the evidence in relation to whether, at the meeting on April 2, 2018, the First Minister did or did not agree to intervene.

“Taking account of the competing versions of the event, the committee believes that she did in fact leave Alex Salmond with the impression that she would, if necessary, intervene.

“This is corroborated by Duncan Hamilton, who was also at the meeting. Her written evidence is, therefore, an inaccurate account of what happened and she has misled the committee on this matter.

“This is a potential breach of the ministerial code under the terms of section 1.3 (c).”

Will Nicola Sturgeon have to resign?

A second inquiry is currently underway into whether she breached the ministerial code which will almost certainly seal her fate and force her to resign.

James Hamilton, Ireland’s former director of public prosecutions, is due to publish the findings of his investigation in the coming days.

A spokesperson for the First Minister said: “The First Minister told the truth to the committee in eight hours of evidence and stands by that evidence.

“It is clear from past public statements that opposition members of this committee had prejudiced the First Minister at the outset of the inquiry and before hearing a word of her evidence, so this partisan and selective briefing – before the committee has actually published its final report – is hardly surprising.

“The question of the First Minister’s adherence to the ministerial code is being considered independently by James Hamilton and we expect to receive and publish his report soon.”

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Many reacted to the news on social media, calling for Ms Sturgeon to resign from her position.

One social media user tweeted: “She has to resign. No question about it now”.

Another person wrote: “This is huge and very decisive, Sturgeon must be made to resign. #ResignSturgeon”.

On Twitter, one person added: “So after all that bluster and nonsense in the committee and at #FMQs, the harassment committee have concluded that Nicola Sturgeon HAS actually misled parliament. She lied and broke the ministerial code. It’s time to resign. #ResignSturgeon”.

Another tweeted: “Since the inquiry has found Nicola Sturgeon has misled the committee, and thus parliament, it is time for her to resign. You cannot be First Minister and be a liar lying to our national parliament.

ResignSturgeon #TickTock”.

How did the controversy between Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond begin?

Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond’s row first began after the latter faced allegations of sexual harassment in 2018, which he strongly denied.

Complaints were made about Mr Salmond after Ms Sturgeon asked for new Government policies on sexual harassment to be addressed in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

The former first minister believed the policy was aimed at him.

Mr Salmond and his supporters claim Ms Sturgeon had misled Scottish Parliament over the inquiry into the allegations, accusing her of conspiring to bring down Mr Salmond, but Ms Sturgeon denied these claims.

The Scottish Government later admitted it had botched the investigation and was forced to pay Mr Salmond’s legal fees, admitting it had acted unlawfully.

In January 2019, Mr Salmond was arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, including rape.

Mr Salmond was cleared of all 13 charges after a trial in March 2020.

Following the conclusion of the trial, two separate inquiries were launched, one into the Scottish Government’s handling of complaints against Mr Salmond and the second into whether Ms Sturgeon breached ministerial code.

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