Gus Carter Gus Carter

The key moments from Sturgeon’s evidence

(Photo by JEFF J MITCHELL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

There have been inquiries, committees, multiple court cases and conflicting reports — the Salmond affair is as slippery as it is fishy. But the fundamental question is this: was there a conspiracy to take down Alex Salmond? 

Having been acquitted of 13 counts of sexual assault last year, the former first minister has alleged that there was a conspiracy — and that his protégé Nicola Sturgeon was involved. Last week he told the Holyrood inquiry that Sturgeon and her husband, SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, led a ‘malicious and concerted effort’ to remove their political rival and even have him imprisoned.

Now Sturgeon has given her side of events. Here are the key moments from her evidence to the inquiry:

The conspiracy

Unsurprisingly, Sturgeon insisted that there had been no conspiracy against the former first minister, saying: ‘I feel I must rebut the absurd suggestion that anyone acted with malice or as part of a plot against Alex Salmond.’ Instead, she said, she had merely done what was expected of her in refusing to follow ‘the age-old pattern of allowing a powerful man to use his status and connections to get what he wants.’

Sturgeon said she would have ‘bitten your hand off’ to avoid the Salmond allegations becoming public, instead preferring that they were resolved in private. She told the committee: ‘I never wanted to be publicly commenting on allegations of this nature against Alex Salmond,’ adding that the notion of a public investigation ‘horrified’ her and made her feel ‘physically sick’.

‘To this day, I don’t know the identity of every single complainer in the criminal trial… The idea that this was some concoction or plot is just not based in any semblance of fact or any basis of credible evidence.’ The First Minister went further, insisting that she refused to become involved even after Salmond asked her to help him: ‘I believe it was right that I did not intervene in the investigation when I became aware of it, even though Alex Salmond asked me to do so.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in