Nicola Sturgeon news: Scottish leader says she feels ‘very let down’ by Salmond and he should say sorry
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Nicola Sturgeon has said many people feel “very let down” by Alex Salmond, including herself, and has called on the former first minister to apologise for his behaviour.
Asked by Murdo Fraser MSP if she owed the Scottish people an apology for having previously told them they should trust Mr Salmond, Ms Sturgeon said she “trusted him” and refused to “apologise for the behaviour of somebody else”.
The first minister also rubbished Mr Salmond’s claim that a plot was hatched to remove him from public life, describing the suggestion as “absurd” to the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints.
Mr Salmond has previously alleged that Scotland’s first minister made a “malicious and concerted” attempt to rid him of a political future through the government’s investigation into sexual harassment claims made against him.
Mr Salmond, who was acquitted of 13 charges in criminal court, won a judicial review which found the government’s investigation was “tainted by apparent bias”.
However, Ms Sturgeon, whose political future is at stake, strongly denies the “plot” allegations, saying there is not “a shred of evidence” to support them.
Session suspended until 11.35am
The committee session has been suspended for a short break and will resume at 11.35am.
Hearing continues
The hearing has reconvened, with discussions still focusing on concerns about breaches of the complainants’ confidentiality.
Scottish leader defends handling of sexual harassment claims
For those of you who are just joining us, here’s an article on Nicola Sturgeon’s defence so far.
Under-fire Scottish leader defends handling of sex claims
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has strongly denied being part of a plot against her predecessor
Sturgeon discusses counter-factual
Scotland’s first minister says she would have been criticised if her government had kept allegations against Alex Salmond from the public.
She raised the “counter-factual” at a committee hearing on Wednesday. “Had I done the opposite, I would also have been criticised,” Nicola Sturgeon said.
She added that the government had been forced to make “really difficult judgements”.
What did Sturgeon know and when did she know it?
Nicola Sturgeon has insisted she did not know of specific complaints against Alex Salmond until the meeting at her home on of 2 April 2018 – but has admitted she was aware of claims of “sexually inappropriate behaviour” the year before.
“Ahead of 2 April [2018] I had an awareness there was a complaint. No doubt I had suspicions of what the nature of that might be.”
Ms Sturgeon said a media inquiry from Sky News in November 2017 made her aware “of allegations or concerns about sexually inappropriate behaviour on the part of Alex Salmond”. She said she had been left with a “sense of unease” after the query from Sky News.
Asked by Andrew Marr on the BBC in November if she had “heard any stories about him before”, Ms Sturgeon said: “absolutely not”.
Questioned about that BBC interview by Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton, Ms Sturgeon said: “I thought the questions I was answering [on Marr] were about the Scottish government complaints.”
‘This stuff is deeply personal for me, and it is hard for me to talk about'
Nicola Sturgeon said that after the Sky News query, either Mr Salmond or his lawyer had phoned people within the civil service.
She said she spoke to him about this, and added: “That, and the way that was raised with me, just led to a sense of unease that him phoning, or these phone calls whether they were from him or his lawyer, had stirred something. Poked a hornets’ nest.
“I didn’t have knowledge of specific complaints, it wasn’t something I thought about every day, it wasn’t something I lay awake at night at that point thinking about. But I had a lingering suspicion that there just might be something in the ether, in the undergrowth, that could surface.”
The First Minister added: “This stuff is deeply personal for me, and it is hard for me to talk about.
“At times if I have appeared as if I am cagey about it, that is one of the reasons.”
She said: “I am really uncomfortable when I speak about this, we’re talking here about serious allegations that have led to the breakdown in a relationship with somebody that was really important to me, on all sorts of levels. I do feel uncomfortable when I speak about this, on a human level.”
Alex Salmond lodges formal complaint over ‘release of complainant’s name’
The former First Minister’s spokesperson has said: “Mr Salmond has lodged a formal complaint with the permanent secretary to the Scottish government under the civil service code, on the conduct of the official who is alleged to have breached civil service rules, by disclosing the name of a complainant in the Scottish government process.”
It is claimed that a senior member of Nicola Sturgeon’s team leaked the name of one of the women who made a claim of sexual harassment against Mr Salmond to his former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein.
Intervening in complaints against Alex Salmond would have been ‘effectively colluding with him’, says Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon said it would have been an “egregious” breach of her position had she acceded to Alex Salmond‘s request for her to intervene following complaints against him.
The First Minister told the committee: “The issue for me ... was is it appropriate for me to intervene in the process, and I don’t think it was.
“Had I done so I think I would have been facing serious criticism on that score as well.
“I don’t think anybody around this table would be sitting here patting me on the back had I sought to intervene and influence the course of that procedure.”
She added: “Had I intervened ... I would have felt I was effectively colluding with him to try to thwart the direction and the natural course of the investigation. and I think that would have been a heinous, egregious breach of my position.”
No evidence ‘within a million miles’ that Alex Salmond was victim of conspiracy within SNP
Nicola Sturgeon insisted she had seen “nothing that comes within a million miles” of backing up claims that Mr Salmond was the victim of a conspiracy within the SNP.
Speaking about messages sent by various people within the party, she said they showed “people supporting each other, people talking to each other”.
She added there was “a bit of gossip about what was going on”, saying: “This was a massive thing for the SNP, particularly for people who had worked closely with him.”
But she stressed that people in the SNP were co-operating with police, saying: “Some of what has been misrepresented as trying to find or concoct evidence is actually people co-operating with the police at their request.
“I have seen nothing that comes within a million miles of backing up that central assertion Alex was making, that there was some kind of co-ordinated attempt, for whatever motive, and the motive seems to be on shifting sands as well, I have seen nothing that comes within a million miles of demonstrating that.”
Sturgeon worries committee’s process has ‘side-lined and silenced’ complainants
Nicola Sturgeon said she was concerned about how the committee’s work may draw the attention away from the complainants.
She said: “One of the genuine worries I have here is the extent to which this whole process has side-lined and silenced the voice of the complainers and that’s not what anybody on this committee has wanted or tried to do.
“It’s not for me to tell you how to do your work, and it’s certainly not, but if you want to know what the complainers thought (about the process of dealing with their allegations) perhaps trying to speak to them would be a better way than trying to get me to second-guess their views.”
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