TRUTH ABOUT THOSE MEETINGS
Salmond insists FM broke rules over discussions with him at home Says she misled parliament over when she learned of the allegations
THERE is ‘no doubt’ that Nicola Sturgeon broke strict government rules by failing to disclose meetings with Alex Salmond to discuss harassment complaints, he insisted yesterday.
The former First Minister has left his protégée in a battle for survival after he insisted she knew a meeting arranged at her own home was set up to discuss allegations made against him.
He also disputed claims given under oath by Miss Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell that it was not unusual for him to meet her in their home.
Miss Sturgeon is under investigation in a probe headed by James Hamilton, QC, over whether she broke the ministerial code of conduct by failing to notify civil servants about the meeting with Mr Salmond at her home on April 2, 2018, when the complaints were discussed.
She has also been accused of misleading parliament about when she first became aware of allegations about Mr Salmond.
The First Minister has said she believed the meeting would be about a party matter, not government business, because she thought he was going to resign.
But Mr Salmond told MSPs yesterday: ‘I have no doubt that Nicola broke the ministerial code, but it’s not for me to suggest what the consequence should be.’
He said the April 2 meeting had been arranged by his former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, when he met Miss Sturgeon in her parliamentary office on March 29.
Mr Salmond said: ‘I heard Mr
Murrell saying several times that I was regularly popping in. Can I just point out that I stay 200 miles away from Glasgow and, as far as I can remember, I have been to Nicola and Peter’s home six times in my life.
‘It may be slightly more but it is not just a question of popping in.
‘Even when my relationship with the First Minister was extremely good, I didn’t “pop in”, because she stayed in Glasgow and I stayed in Aberdeenshire and that was an arranged meeting.
‘And that was the purpose of the meeting on March 29.’
He said Mr Aberdein had been approached by a Scottish Government official ‘who brought him into the process’ about the complaints and set up the March 29 meeting to brief Miss Sturgeon and arrange the talks with Mr Salmond. He said: ‘I know that Nicola Sturgeon knew about the complaints process at the meeting on March 29 because I was told so by Geoff Aberdein, who told her at a meeting arranged for that purpose.
‘Whether she had any prior knowledge of it I cannot say but I know that she knew on March 29.’
He added: ‘The meeting on March 29 was not “impromptu”, was not “accidental”, was not “popping your head round the door”.’
Mr Salmond also rejected Miss Sturgeon’s claim that he was arranging the meeting because she thought he was about to resign from the SNP.
During the April 2 talks, he said that ‘there was no suggestion that she was surprised or astounded about what the meeting was for’ when he told her the allegations.
‘The meeting was for that purpose,’ he said.
He said he is ‘absolutely certain’ that the March 29 meeting was about ensuring Miss Sturgeon was ‘briefed on the situation’ about the complaints.
He added: ‘I know that some people say, ‘‘well, what difference does four days make?’’ The difference is of course if the meeting of March 29 is admitted, and indeed the subject matter is admitted, then it makes it very difficult to argue that the meeting of the 2nd of April was on party business, as opposed to government business.’
Pressed on what evidence there is to corroborate his claims, Mr Salmond said his legal representative Duncan Hamilton and former adviser Kevin Pringle knew about the details of the March 29 meeting.
He added: ‘In terms of the breach of the ministerial code, I would have thought either explanation
‘The meeting was not impromptu’ ‘Nothing but the truth’
breaches the ministerial code. Because either the meeting on March 29 wasn’t forgotten about and parliament was deliberately misled or alternatively it was forgotten about and parliament wasn’t informed when she was reminded of it.
‘Now my submission on the ministerial code says these are, to me, clear breaches of the ministerial code. What happens as a result is not for me, it’s for this committee, it’s for Mr James Hamilton, it’s for others.
‘All I can do is come here and tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth – with the frustration, of course, that we all know there is evidence in terms of March 2018 which this committee is prohibited from hearing.’
Asked directly by Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser if Miss Sturgeon
should resign if she broke the ministerial code, Mr Salmond said: ‘Not for me.
‘I believe the First Minister has broken the ministerial code, that is a finding that can be discussed at least by this committee, by Mr
James Hamilton. It is not the case that every minister who breaks the ministerial code resigns – your own party would have an example of that relatively recently – it depends on what is found and the degree by which the ministerial code has been broken.’ Mr Salmond added: ‘I have no doubt Nicola has broken the ministerial code but it is not for me to suggest what the consequences should be.
‘It is for the people who are judging that, including this committee.’