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Opposition MSPs have called for an investigation into Nicola Sturgeon’s actions during the Alex Salmond affair to be expanded after further allegations that she misled the Scottish Parliament.
Four MSPs, from the Labor Party, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, have asked a former prosecutor to investigate Salmond’s new claims that Sturgeon violated the ministerial code by not revealing how much he knew about an internal investigation into him.
James Hamilton QC, Ireland’s former head of public prosecution, was appointed in 2019 to investigate whether Sturgeon interfered with a civil service investigation into two allegations of sexual misconduct against Salmond, his predecessor as Scottish Prime Minister.
Salmond has told Hamilton that Sturgeon’s account to Parliament of what he knew and when is “just plain untrue.” He alleges that she had a series of discussions about her concerns about the investigation, offered to voice her concerns, and gave her advice on what to do.
The four MSPs in a Holyrood special committee established after a court ruled that the government’s handling of that internal investigation was illegal, said they believed it was “vital” that Salmond’s new allegations be formally investigated under the ministerial code.
They have written jointly to John Swinney, the deputy prime minister, and Hamilton to argue the case for further investigation.
Jackie Baillie, a Labor MSP on the committee, said any minister who violated the code should resign. Sturgeon’s account was “at odds with Alex Salmond’s.” “It gets harder to swallow with every twist and turn,” Baillie said.
On Sunday, Swinney dismissed Salmond’s accusations as “utter nonsense” and said Sturgeon would defend himself vigorously when testifying before the Holyrood committee. Swinney said Hamilton already had the discretion to expand his investigation if he saw fit.
On Friday, Sturgeon’s spokesman said: “The Prime Minister completely rejects Mr. Salmond’s assertions on the ministerial code.
“We must always remember that the root of this problem lies in the complaints of women about the behavior of Alex Salmond while he was Prime Minister, aspects that he has given up. So it’s not surprising that he continues to try to divert attention from that by trying to smear the prime minister’s reputation and by making false conspiracy theories.
“The prime minister is focusing on fighting the pandemic, standing up for what she has said and will address these issues in full when she appears on committee in the coming weeks.”
Sturgeon told Holyrood that Salmond first told her about the allegations when the couple met at their home in Glasgow in April 2018. She posted a list that showed three face-to-face meetings and two phone calls with Salmond.
In a possible violation of the ministerial code, he also acknowledged that he did not tell the permanent secretary of the Scottish government, Lesley Evans, about his contacts until the eve of his second meeting with Salmond, at the Scottish national party conference in Aberdeen in June. 2018.
Sturgeon did not tell parliament that he had also met with former Salmond chief of staff Geoff Aberdein in his Holyrood office on March 29. She told the MSPs late last year that she had forgotten about it because it was a fleeting meeting because Aberdein was in parliament.
Salmond has told Hamilton that he is wrong. He said the meeting was arranged after Sturgeon’s chief of staff Liz Lloyd contacted Aberdein earlier that month and briefed him on the investigation.
Salmond alleges that Lloyd also named one of the two women who had filed complaints against him. The Scottish government said this was not true.
“This meeting was for the purpose of discussing the complaints and then arranging a direct meeting between the prime minister and myself,” Salmond told Hamilton.
“There was never the slightest doubt about the subject of the meeting. Any suggestion from the Prime Minister to the Scottish Parliament that the meeting was ‘fleeting or opportunistic’ is simply untrue. “
Salmond also alleges that Sturgeon promised at their first meeting on April 2 that he would tell the civil service that they had met and transmit his request that allegations of harassment would be dealt with through mediation.
Salmond said that in a message exchange on June 1, Sturgeon retracted that and instead told him that she had always argued that her intervention was “not the right thing to do.” “That was untrue and disturbing,” Salmond told Hamilton.
