Blackford: Sturgeon must quit if she broke the rules
NICOLA Sturgeon should resign if she broke conduct rules over the Alex Salmond allegations, one of her closest allies has said.
Ian Blackford, SNP leader at Westminster, said a breach of the Ministerial Code should result in her standing down after six years as First Minister.
Ms Sturgeon is under investigation over whether she misled parliament in connection with her government’s investigation into harassment complaints against her former mentor.
On Friday, Mr Salmond accused her of giving ‘simply untrue’ evidence to a Holyrood inquiry.
Mr Blackford was asked on Radio 4’s Any Questions if she would have to resign if that is proven to be the case. ‘Well, yes,’ he replied.
However, he then said he was backing Ms Sturgeon, dismissing Mr Salmond’s claims.
Mr Salmond was cleared of 13 charges against nine women last year. He also won a judicial review over the government at the Court of Session, which found the investigation ‘tainted by apparent bias’.
Before launching that case he sought to meet Ms Sturgeon to discuss the claims. The First Minister said she first learned of them at that meeting on April 2, 2018, but then said that she was told days earlier. She also said she did not provide an account to civil servants because it was party, rather than government, business. This appeared to be contradicted by her husband, SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, at a Holyrood committee, and is disputed by Mr Salmond.
It also effectively kept the meeting secret as no official minutes or record need be kept for party buisness.
New government documents show lawyers advised that the inquiry was flawed on October 31, 2018, but the case was still pursued. Taxpayers were left with a £512,000 bill for Mr Salmond’s legal costs, as well as the Government’s own bill.
Ruth Davidson, Scots Tory leader at Holyrood, said: ‘Either the First Minister has told multiple untruths to parliament, or her predecessor is lying to a parliament committee.
‘If Nicola Sturgeon was told it was not a winnable case, but ploughed on regardless, then we get into misuse of public funds.’
A spokesman for Ms Sturgeon has insisted she ‘entirely rejects’ any suggestion she breached the Ministerial Code, and accused Mr Salmond of trying to ‘divert focus’ from his own actions, by ‘seeking to malign the reputation of the First Minister’.
Last night, the Scottish Government defended its handling of the judicial review.