STURGEON ‘TRYING TO SAVE HER OWN SKIN’

NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday faced accusations she used ‘secrets and cover-ups’ to ‘save her own skin’.

The First Minister faced criticism from opposition leaders who told her ‘something rotten at the core of the SNP’ is ‘poisoning our democratic institutions’.

It comes after the Scottish parliament was forced to heavily redact key evidence submitted by Alex Salmond to the Holyrood inquiry into the botched handling of complaints about him.

Miss Sturgeon was also challenged about an ‘extraordinary breach of confidentiality’ following claims that the name of a complainer was leaked to Mr Salmond’s top aide.

She accused opponents of pursuing a ‘conspiracy theory or scorched-earth policy which threatens the reputation and integrity of Scotland’s independent justice institutions’.

It came ahead of Mr Salmond’s long-awaited appearance at the Holyrood inquiry today.

He had been due to appear earlier this week but the meeting was delayed after a row about the Crown Office’s decision to force the Scottish parliament to redact his written evidence.

Yesterday, Scottish Tory group leader at Holyrood Ruth Davidson read out one of the sections of Mr Salmond’s evidence. In it, he accused Miss Sturgeon of making an ‘untrue’ statement in parliament and breaching the ministerial code by saying she first learned of complaints against him on April 2, 2018, while at her home.

Miss Davidson said: ‘It doesn’t risk identifying complainers... What is it about those two sentences of evidence that is so damaging that

‘Culture of secrets and cover-up is only growing’

they should be censored? Or is it just that they are damaging to the First Minister?’

She said the redacted extracts expose Miss Sturgeon by showing she misled parliament three times over when she knew of complaints.

She added: ‘Does the First Minister understand why, to the public, this looks like a coverup, when the exact evidence that is being redacted is the most damaging to her personally? This sorry affair is not just tarnishing the First Minister’s reputation, it is damaging the institutions that it is her responsibility to uphold.

‘Majority votes by members of this chamber to produce legal advice ignored, crucial evidence available elsewhere censored, promises of openness and transparency broken, the chief executive of Scotland’s ruling party caught calling for the police to be pressured, the reputation of the Government tainted, the standing of the parliament diminished.

‘A culture of secrets and cover-up is only growing, and it is all taking place on Nicola Sturgeon’s watch.’

Miss Davidson added: ‘First Minister, is saving your own skin worth all the damage you are doing?’

Miss Sturgeon described this as a ‘litany of nonsense’ and said there is not ‘a single shred of evidence’ to back up the claim Crown Office decisions upholding court orders are ‘politically influenced’.

She dismissed claims of a ‘coverup’ and said some of the details have been in her written evidence, adding: ‘Scrutiny of me is... entirely legitimate. What is not legitimate is to pursue a conspiracy theory, a scorched-earth policy which threatens the reputation and integrity of Scotland’s independent justice institutions just because you happen to dislike the Government – and to sacrifice all that on the altar of the ego of one man.’ The First Minister was also quizzed about claims in Mr Salmond’s written evidence, subsequently redacted, that the identity of one of the civil service complainers was revealed to his former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, before the ex-SNP leader knew who had complained.

Scottish Labour acting leader Jackie Baillie called this an ‘extraordinary breach of confidentiality’. Miss Sturgeon criticised her for ‘accepting at face value Alex Salmond’s account of all this’.

She added: ‘I do not accept Alex Salmond’s account of much of this, which is why, when I sit before the committee, I will go through in detail what actually happened.’

Miss Baillie said: ‘A complainant was named. That is not a conspiracy theory... that is a fundamental breakdown in trust.

‘It is beyond belief that anyone would tell the name of a complainant to the former chief of staff for Alex Salmond... it is a gross breach of confidentiality.’

She added: ‘There is something rotten at the core of the SNP and it is poisoning our democratic institutions.’

Pressed by Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie to clarify whether she was categorically saying that the name of the complainer was not passed to Mr Salmond’s chief of staff, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘To the best of my knowledge, I do not think that happened.’

Miss Sturgeon’s spokesman said evidence published by the committee makes clear it is ‘not the case’ the name of the complainer was revealed – but refused to say what evidence it was for legal reasons.

He also refused to say if the claim that a complainer’s name was leaked was investigated.

SOME of the key institutions of our state ‘now lie under a dark cloud of suspicion of political corruption’.

Those are the words of former SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars, writing in today’s Mail about the Salmond affair.

It’s a damning assessment – but one that is increasingly difficult to challenge in light of recent events.

First, the Holyrood inquiry, tasked with examining the botched sexual harassment probe into the former First Minister, ran into countless dead ends.

Then Alex Salmond’s bombshell submission – accusing his former colleagues of trying to have him thrown in jail – was redacted after a Crown Office legal threat.

As Mr Salmond prepares to give evidence to the parliamentary probe today, are we any closer to getting to the bottom of this mess?

At First Minister’s Questions yesterday, there were accusations of a government ‘cover-up’. And Ruth Davidson asked Nicola Sturgeon a critical question: ‘Is saving your own skin worth all the damage you’re doing?’

The damage goes further: as Mr Sillars argues, the independence cause has been harmed, and there are reports of SNP members quitting in growing numbers.

A new poll shows more than one in three Scots believe the Salmond debacle has made them less likely to vote for the SNP – including 21 per cent of SNP voters.

Meanwhile, the First Minister’s personal popularity is in decline after months of favourable ratings during the Covid pandemic. And no wonder – when the integrity of the Government, parliament and our prosecution services is at stake, voters are rightly concerned.

Now it’s imperative that the parliament’s inquiry into this extraordinary saga is allowed to continue its important work – without further obstruction.