Sturgeon reacts to being cleared of breaching ministerial code
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An investigation by James Hamilton QC has ruled the First Minister did not breach the code after allegations she failed to record meetings with Mr Salmond and others in 2018. Ms Sturgeon referred herself for investigation after questions were raised about her conduct in relation to the Scottish Government’s actions in an unlawful investigation into sexual assault allegations against Mr Salmond.
The probe into the First Minister’s conduct has hung over the Scottish government like plague for months, with Ms Sturgeon facing calls to resign if she was found to have broken the rules by which ministers should conduct themselves.
While Mr Hamilton’s report cleared the SNP leader of any wrongdoing, it is just the first hurdle in a momentous week in Scottish politics.
Mr Hamilton’s 61-page report says while it is his opinion Ms Sturgeon’s actions did not break the ministerial code, “it is for the Scottish Parliament to decide whether they were in fact misled”.
It means attention now turns to the findings of a Scottish Parliament inquiry into whether Ms Sturgeon gave an “inaccurate account” of her meetings with her predecessor during an evidence session to MSPs under oath.
The report is due to be published tomorrow with leaks indicating it is likely to find the SNP leader failed to tell the truth.
However, it is expected to stop short of saying she misled MSPs “intentionally”, the criteria for breaking the ministerial code.
The report’s publication tomorrow will be followed by a no confidence vote in the First Minister, tabled by the Scottish Tories.
The party’s leader, Douglas Ross, has said Ms Sturgeon must quit if the MSPs’ report finds her to have misled Parliament.
“The First Minister promised to ‘respect the decisions’ of both inquiry reports, not to pick and choose which one suits her and try to discredit the other,” he said following the publication of the results of Mr Hamilton’s inquiry.
“This report does not change the overwhelming evidence that Nicola Sturgeon misled Parliament, her government badly let women down and wasted more than £500,000 of taxpayers’ money.
“If Nicola Sturgeon won’t accept responsibility, then I urge opposition parties to back our vote of no confidence.”
However, while the report tomorrow is likely to rule against the First Minister, she is likely to survive the no confidence vote with the Scottish Greens saying they would not support the no confidence vote.
Co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “In lodging a vote of no confidence before this report was published, just as they called for the First Minister’s resignation before she even gave evidence to the parliamentary committee, the Tories have shown that they have no interest in establishing the truth.
“This entire saga should have been about examining a process that let down women and ensuring that was never repeated.
“In their ridiculous attempts to pursue a political scalp the Tories have completely ignored that fact.
“Ruth Davidson and Douglas Ross have shown that they have absolutely nothing positive to offer the people of Scotland.”
Scottish Labour has not yet indicated how it will vote in the no confidence motion, with leader Anas Sarwar saying his party would wait until the results of the second inquiry are published.
He said: “We acknowledge the findings of the report and we await the publication of the committee inquiry and whether its members conclude the First Minister misled parliament.
“What is clear is that this entire process has deeply damaged public trust in our politics at a time of national crisis, and there are absolutely no winners today.”
More to follow…
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