Sturgeon ‘misled parliament’ inquiry finds

NICOLA Sturgeon misled parliament over the Alex Salmond affair, MSPs have concluded.

The Holyrood inquiry into the affair found the First Minister gave “an inaccurate account” of her actions and so misled the cross-party investigation.

However it stopped short of saying she did so “knowingly”, the threshold for resignation under the Scottish Ministerial Code. It is understood the inquiry split down party lines 5-4 on the issue yesterday, and decided Ms Sturgeon broke the code on the balance of probabilities, with only SNP MSPs clearing their leader.

The decision is likely to increase pressure on Ms Sturgeon, left, to stand down before May’s election.

It is understood the inquiry’s 170-page report, which is due out early next week, does not say Ms Sturgeon knowingly misled parliament as it did not have access to sufficient evidence to establish that.

A spokesperson for the First Minister: “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 prejudged 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.”

Boris Johnson last night refused to say if Ms Sturgeon should resign if she is found to have broken the code.