The key moments from Sturgeon’s evidence

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.’