Not looking good for the wicked witch of the north.....
'Nicola Sturgeon is facing calls to resign after two witnesses in the Alex Salmond scandal corroborated his version of key events and provided damning evidence she repeatedly misled parliament.
In a potentially devastating development for the First Minister, ahead of her appearance before a Holyrood inquiry on Wednesday morning, a pair of former special advisers contradicted her claims about two meetings in 2018.
Ms Sturgeon has told parliament she only found out about the allegations when Mr Salmond visited her home on April 2, 2018 and but she refused to intervene.
Last week she denied during First Minister's Questions the identity of one of the women was shared with Geoff Aberdein, Mr Salmond's chief of staff, "to the best of my knowledge".
But Duncan Hamilton, a former SNP MP and junior counsel, said the name of a complainant was given to Mr Aberdein by a senior official shortly after Mr Salmond was informed of the government's investigation into sexual misconduct claims on March 7, 2018.
In a letter to the inquiry, he said "fact that the government official had shared that information with Mr Aberdein was reported to me, and to Kevin Pringle, on a conference call."
He was present at the meeting between Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon at her home on April 2 and confirmed she "did offer to assist" him with her government's investigation only to change her mind.
Ms Sturgeon has told parliament she refused to get involved but Mr Hamilton, said: "We discussed mediation. My clear recollection is that her words were 'If it comes to it, I will intervene'."
He contradicted Ms Sturgeon's claim about when she found out about the allegations, stating that when Mr Salmond and his team arrived at her home, "everyone in the room knew exactly why we were there."
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Nicola Sturgeon using a laptop computer sitting on top of a desk: Key witnesses in the Alex Salmond scandal corroborated his version of events and provided damning evidence she repeatedly misled parliament - Getty Images Europe
Getty Images Europe Key witnesses in the Alex Salmond scandal corroborated his version of events and provided damning evidence she repeatedly misled parliament - Getty Images Europe
Nicola Sturgeon is facing calls to resign after two witnesses in the Alex Salmond scandal corroborated his version of key events and provided damning evidence she repeatedly misled parliament.
In a potentially devastating development for the First Minister, ahead of her appearance before a Holyrood inquiry on Wednesday morning, a pair of former special advisers contradicted her claims about two meetings in 2018.
Ms Sturgeon has told parliament she only found out about the allegations when Mr Salmond visited her home on April 2, 2018 and but she refused to intervene.
Last week she denied during First Minister's Questions the identity of one of the women was shared with Geoff Aberdein, Mr Salmond's chief of staff, "to the best of my knowledge".
But Duncan Hamilton, a former SNP MP and junior counsel, said the name of a complainant was given to Mr Aberdein by a senior official shortly after Mr Salmond was informed of the government's investigation into sexual misconduct claims on March 7, 2018.
In a letter to the inquiry, he said "fact that the government official had shared that information with Mr Aberdein was reported to me, and to Kevin Pringle, on a conference call."
He was present at the meeting between Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon at her home on April 2 and confirmed she "did offer to assist" him with her government's investigation only to change her mind.
Ms Sturgeon has told parliament she refused to get involved but Mr Hamilton, said: "We discussed mediation. My clear recollection is that her words were 'If it comes to it, I will intervene'."
He contradicted Ms Sturgeon's claim about when she found out about the allegations, stating that when Mr Salmond and his team arrived at her home, "everyone in the room knew exactly why we were there."
'Mr Pringle, the SNP's former communications chief, also told the inquiry that the name of a complainant was shared with Mr Aberdein during a meeting with a senior Scottish Government official.
Both he and Mr Hamilton said a meeting between Mr Aberdein and Ms Sturgeon was arranged on March 29 - four days earlier - to discuss the allegations and set up the visit to her home.
Ms Sturgeon claims she "forgot" about this first meeting, despite the explosive content, and that it had been fleeting and opportunistic.
In a third devastating blow to the First Minister last night, her government finally published emails showing it continued a legal fight with Mr Salmond despite its lawyers advising it was likely to lose.
They showed a senior lawyer was "very concerned indeed" about the judicial review case in October 2018, with the government's counsel urging it to admit defeat by December 6.
In a damning joint note by Roddy Dunlop QC and Christine O'Neill on December 19, they relayed their "extreme professional embarrassment" they had suffered.
They said they had given assurances to the court that "turned out to be false as a result of the revelation of further (government) documents, highly relevant yet undisclosed" and the case was becoming "unstatable."
By December 28, the lawyers had threatened to resign and the Scottish Government collapsed the case a few days later, in January 2019.
The SNP administration he had once led had to pay Mr Salmond's legal fees of more than £500,000 after admitting its investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations had been unlawful.'
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Tue Feb 23, 2021 6:57 pm
