First Minister Nicola Sturgeon misled a Scottish parliament committee, an investigation into the Scottish government’s unlawful handling of harassment allegations against former first minister Alex Salmond has concluded.
The findings are separate from those of James Hamilton, who reported yesterday that there had been no breach of the ministerial code by the First Minister over her role in the saga.
The Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints found a “fundamental contradiction” in her evidence on whether she agreed to intervene in a Scottish government investigation into complaints by two women against Mr Salmond.
It said that, in a meeting at her Glasgow home on 2 April 2018, Ms Sturgeon “did in fact leave Mr Salmond with the impression that she would, if necessary, intervene”.
Alex Salmond was awarded over £500,000 after Scottish government conceded case
The report continued: “Her written evidence is therefore an inaccurate account of what happened, and she has misled the committee on this matter.”
The committee found this is a potential breach of the ministerial code, but added that Mr Hamilton’s report was the “most appropriate place” to address the question of whether Ms Sturgeon had breached the ministerial code.
The four SNP committee members did not agree with the finding that she misled the committee.
The cross-party inquiry was set up after a successful judicial review by Mr Salmond resulted in the Scottish government’s investigation into the allegations against him being ruled unlawful and “tainted by apparent bias” in 2019.
He was awarded a maximum payout of £512,250 after the government conceded the case a week before it was due to be heard in court because of prior contact between investigating officer Judith Mackinnon and two of the women who made complaints.
The committee also said it was “concerned” that Ms Sturgeon did not disclose details of her meeting with Mr Salmond to the Scottish government’s most senior civil servant, Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, until 6 June – more than two months after the meeting at the First Minister’s home.
The report said: “Given the sensitivities of the matter and the fact that it related to internal government complaints handling, the committee believes that it was inappropriate for the First Minister to continue to meet and have discussions with the former first minister on this topic.
“She should have made the Permanent Secretary aware of her state of knowledge of the complaints and the facts of the meetings at the earliest opportunity after April 2, at which point she should have confirmed that she would cease to have any further contact with Mr Salmond on that subject.”
SNP MSPs on the committee, however, did not agree with this.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon misled a Scottish parliament committee, an investigation into the Scottish government’s unlawful handling of harassment allegations against former first minister Alex Salmond has concluded.
