FM accused of ‘keeping up lie’ by MSP

Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of cont inu ing to “cover -up ” a mee t ing w ith A lex Salmond’s former chief-ofstaff after she was reminded she had taken part in it.

T h e S c o t t i s h Conservatives made the claim after Ms Sturgeon said the meeting with Mr Salmond’s former aide, Geoff Aberdein, had slipped her mind before she recalled it some time later.

The meeting is likely to be a key aspect of the Salmond inquir y as it investigates when Ms Sturgeon first knew about the harassment allegations that triggered the Scottish G o v e r n m e n t ’s botched inquiry into Mr Salmond.

In evidence submitted to the Salmond inquiry this week, the first minister said she had forgotten about the meeting held on March 29 2018 for a spell, but admitted she thought it “did cover the suggestion that the matter might relate to allegations of a sexual nature”.

In her submission, Ms Sturgeon claimed she “had forgotten” that the encounter w ith Mr Aberdein “had taken place until I was reminded of it in, I think, late January/ early February 2019”.

Ms Sturgeon failed to mention the Aberdein meeting when, on January 8 and 10 2019, she told Holyrood about meetings she had with Mr Salmond to discuss the harassment claims made against him.

The fact that Ms Sturgeon had met Mr Aberdein was only made public during Mr Salmond’s criminal trial, which resulted in the former SNP leader being cleared in March this year of all the sex offence charges he faced.

Bu t the Sco tt ish Conservat ives drew attention to an occasion a few months later in July this year when Ms Sturgeon was quizzed about a report saying that Sky News had seen an account of the Aberdein meeting which ind icated that the complaints against Mr Salmond were discussed.

When tackled about the Sky Ne ws report, Ms Sturgeon told the Daily

Record: “I statement parliament.”

Murdo Fraser, the Tory MSP who sits on the Salmond inquir y, said: “Nicola Sturgeon’s fanciful tales are unravelling already.

“In July this year the first minister had the chance to clear up the record. She was asked about the March 29 2018 secret meeting regarding the sexual misconduct allegations and she refused to reveal it.

“She kept up the lie and tried to cover up that the mee t ing w ith A lex Salmond’s chief- of- staff involved disc ussion of these allegations, more than a year after she claims to have been reminded of it.

“It looks like the first minister didn’t forget at all – she tried to keep pretending the secret meeting either d i d n’ t happen or it wasn’t about the allegations against Alex Salmond. Her own words have caught her out.”

The Scottish Government has been approached for a comment. stand by I made the to

COVER-UP CLAIMS: Nicola Sturgeon has denied lying over a meeting with Alex Salmond’s former chief-of-staff, Geoff Aberdein.