First Minister accused of ‘taking people for fools’
Ruth Davidson rounds on SNP leader over ‘absurd’ claim to Salmond inquiry about ‘forgotten’ meeting
NICOLA STURGEON was yesterday accused of “taking people for fools” over her “absurd” claim she had “forgotten” about a meeting at which she was informed about sexual misconduct allegations against Alex Salmond.
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tories’ Holyrood leader, said Ms Sturgeon’s evidence to an inquiry over her role in her government’s botched handling of the allegations “beggars belief ”.
In fiery exchanges at First Minister’s Questions, Ms Davidson accused the SNP leader of misleading parliament over what she knew and when, and an “abuse of power” for holding secret discussions with Mr Salmond.
Ms Davidson suggested Ms Sturgeon’s “sudden memory loss” was because she did not want her involvement to become public and demanded a full judicial inquiry to overcome the “secrecy, evasion and unbelievable nonsense coming from the SNP”.
Ms Sturgeon said she understood why people would “raise an eyebrow” but doubled down on her claim that she had forgotten a meeting in March 2018 with Geoff Aberdein, Mr Salmond’s former chief of staff, at which he informed her of the sexual misconduct claims.
She originally told Holyrood she only found out about the claims when Mr Salmond visited her home on April 2 that year, only for it to emerge during his trial this year that there was a meeting with Mr Aberdein on March 29.
In her evidence to the Holyrood inquiry, published on Wednesday, she admitted for the first time that the latter “covered the fact that Alex Salmond wanted to see me urgently about a serious matter, and I think it did cover the suggestion that the matter might relate to allegations of a sexual nature”.
However, she claimed she had “forgotten” the meeting until late January or early February last year as it took place shortly after FMQ “and in the midst of a busy day”.
This was ridiculed yesterday by Ms Davidson, who said she had checked the official record for that day’s FMQ “when we ended up talking about the Arctic strategy, which is not something to cause anyone to forget sexual assault allegations”.
The pressure on Ms Sturgeon intensified as Mr Salmond accused her government of t r yi ng to “malign hi s reputation” by reversing its judicial review defeat to him by the backdoor.
The former First Minister’s solicitor said the Scottish government was trying to put material into the public domain that had already been ruled unlawful and defective.
David Mckie, of Levy & Mcrae, told the Holyrood inquiry that if it succeeded, it would “defeat entirely the purpose and effect of the court action successfully undertaken by our client”.
In a separate letter, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service told the inquiry it could legally access documents withheld by the SNP Government. The cross- party committee conducting the investigation is now
‘We talked about the Arctic strategy … not something to cause anyone to forget sexual assault allegations’
expected to write to SNP ministers and Mr Salmond demanding the information, which his allies say supports his claims he was a victim of a conspiracy.
The correspondence was published the week after the inquiry halted its proceedings, blaming “obstruction” by the SNP and Scottish government.
The committee’s inquiry was kickstarted in March this year when Mr Salmond was acquitted of 13 sex offences at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Speaking following FMQ, Ms Davidson said: “They must take people for fools.”
Ms Sturgeon said her April 2 2018 meeting with Mr Salmond in her dining room was “seared on my memory” and it had “overwritten in my mind a much more fleeting, opportunistic meeting that took place a few days earlier”.
She insisted her evidence was a “full and frank account” and “I have got nothing to hide in all this”.
However, she attacked Ms Davidson for not asking about the pandemic instead, arguing that it was of more interest to Scots.