Inquiry is just a distraction from the real issues

SCOTLAND has a bulging in-tray of injustices waiting to be addressed by our Parliament.

Drug death figures are an embarrassment and shame every one of our MSPs.

The attainment gap between children from rich and poor backgrounds, which long predates Covid, is another disgrace.

And health inequalities see people from middle-class areas living longer lives.

But our Parliament is obsessed by a pathetic dispute between Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

We are not downplaying the Scottish Government’s botched sexual misconduct investigation into Salmond.

Civil service incompetence led to a taxpayer loss of £600,000 from legal costs and did enormous damage to the reputation of the government.

But, egged on by Salmond, the Holyrood Inquiry has gone down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories and petty political games.

Many people will struggle to separate fact from fiction but one undeniable truth is that the women who complained about Salmond have been let down.

They came forward in good faith and made allegations about a very powerful man.

The least they could expect was the government investigating their claims in a competent and professional manner.

The reality is the civil service made amateurish errors and messed up the entire process.

To make matters worse, the voices of the women have not been heard by the inquiry set up to investigate the fiasco.

Rape Crisis Scotland – which has represented the women who complained – has blasted the conduct of the Inquiry. It’s not a great look for devolution.

The Scottish Government introduced a new policy to address claims of sexual harassment but the investigation into Salmond has set the #MeToo movement back years.

Meanwhile, Scotland is two months away from going to the polls and our elected representatives have skewed priorities.

There is an urgent need for politicians to work out a plan for rebooting our economy after the pandemic is tamed.

We are in desperate need of new ideas to reform the NHS and tackle the massive backlog in operations.

Scotland is in the grip of multiple crises yet too many of our politicians seem content to drag the country into the gutter.

Both Salmond and Sturgeon have had their say at the inquiry but no doubt the soap opera will go on for a bit longer.

We now need the warring sides, as well as opposition politicians, to act like grown-ups and move on.

The voices of the women victims have not been heard