With Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon giving evidence today, the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent, Libby Brooks, charts the unravelling of the alliance between first minister Nicola Sturgeon and her predecessor Alex Salmond – once seen as Scotland’s greatest political partnership
The Guardian’s Scotland correspondent, Libby Brooks, discusses the turmoil inside the SNP, with Rachel Humphreys. Today Nicola Sturgeon gives evidence to the Scottish parliament’s inquiry into the government’s handling of complaints of sexual assault against Alex Salmond. Sturgeon has been accused by the former first minister of possibly breaking the ministerial code and is subject to a second inquiry that will examine this.
Yesterday John Swinney, Scotland’s deputy first minister, agreed to release his government’s legal advice on Salmond’s court action after facing cross-party censure in Holyrood. It reveals that the Scottish government was warned by its senior lawyers it faced defeat in an ultimately successful legal action by Alex Salmond. The guidance, released by Scottish ministers on Tuesday, confirms that their two counsel told them the revelation that a senior official had previously met and briefed two complainers against Salmond had devastating consequences for their case. There were further developments yesterday when evidence from two other witnesses called into question Ms Sturgeon’s version of events. Text messages between senior party and government officials, which Salmond last Friday claimed indicated that witnesses and the police were pressurised to pursue his criminal charges in order to overtake the judicial review, were handed over to the inquiry too.
