What DID she know & when?
Pressure piled on Sturgeon over Salmond accusations
NICOLA Sturgeon is facing more questions about when she became aware of allegations about Alex Salmond.
Scottish Government papers show its draft policy for complaints about former ministers was only changed to remove the First Minister from the process after the first claims were made about her predecessor.
It had previously said the First Minister should be informed if it involved a member of the party in power.
The first allegations were made about Mr Salmond in November 2017, but Miss Sturgeon has insisted she only found out about the Scottish Government investigation in April 2018.
The revelations come as Mr Salmond prepares to make his long-awaited appearance, on Wednesday, in front of the Holyrood inquiry into how complaints were handled. He is expected to accuse the Scottish Government of a ‘pantomime of deception and secrecy’.
His evidence is likely to pile pressure on Miss Sturgeon, her inner circle including her husband Peter Murrell, and senior civil servants.
It was also reported yesterday that ministers have begun discussing an exit strategy for Leslie Evans, the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government, who is expected to be heavily criticised in the inquiry’s final report.
Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser, who sits on the committee holding the inquiry, said: ‘The buck must stop with Nicola Sturgeon. It was her GovernDemocrat ment who botched the investigation and cost the public purse at least £500,000 in pursuing a lost cause. And it was her Government who so badly let down the women involved in this case.’
He accused the First Minister of being ‘obstructive at every turn’, adding: ‘This whole affair stinks to high heaven and the truth must be heard. Whatever is concluded from this inquiry, it is imperative that it is Nicola Sturgeon who carries the can for the shambolic failings of her Government. If she’s found to have broken the Ministerial Code, then she must resign.’
The Sun on Sunday newspaper revealed that a first draft of a new harassment policy for former ministers was produced in November 2017, around the time the first allegations were raised about Mr Salmond’s conduct, and said that if the former minister is a member of the party in power, the First Minister will be informed.
The wording was eventually changed during discussions about an eighth draft of the policy one month later, in December 2017, when it said the First Minister should only be informed about an investigation after it is finished.
Miss Sturgeon signed off the policy on December 20, and two women then came forward with formal complaints under the new policy in January 2018. Liberal MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton, another committee member, said: ‘You’d have to be a very bold civil servant to decide not to notify the First Minister of these allegations at a time when the changes to the complaints procedure... had not yet been completed.’
Scottish Labour interim leader Jackie Baillie said: ‘These revelations demand straight answers from the First Minister. ’
Mr Salmond has already called for the resignation of Mrs Evans and is expected to condemn the Scottish Government, whose investigation was judged by the Court of Session to be ‘procedurally unfair’ and ‘tainted by apparent bias’.
According to the Sunday Times, Nationalist MSPs on the committee are preparing to blame Mrs Evans, while other possible departures include Mr Murrell, the SNP’s chief executive.
A Scottish Government spokesman said it had ‘set out in detail’ why the procedure for investigating complaints against former ministers was created.
It had also explained why the formal complaints received in January 2018 had been handled ‘using the finalised version of the procedure’.