Second inquiry faults Scottish leader
LONDON — A Scottish parliamentary investigation concluded in a split decision Tuesday that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon misled lawmakers about sexual-harassment allegations against her predecessor.
The finding was issued a day after a separate inquiry, by a senior lawyer, cleared Sturgeon of wrongdoing in the scandal that is roiling Scottish politics weeks before a crucial parliamentary election.
Sturgeon, who hopes to use the May 6 election as a springboard to a referendum on Scottish independence, hailed the report clearing her and condemned the one that found fault. She accused political opponents of trying to “bully me out of office.”
A committee of lawmakers has been investigating the Scottish government’s handling of sexual-harassment allegations against Alex Salmond, who was Scotland’s first minister before Sturgeon took office in 2014.
Its report said Sturgeon had given “an inaccurate account” of what happened at a key meeting with Salmond in 2018, “and she has misled the committee on this matter.”
It also said Sturgeon’s claim about when she first learned of allegations of inappropriate behavior by Salmond toward women — long rumored in Scottish political circles — was “hard to believe.”
The committee split along party lines, with four lawmakers from Sturgeon’s governing Scottish National Party dissenting from those conclusions, and five opposition members backing them.