From a distance, Nicola Sturgeon seems unbeatable. Polls show her party with just over 50 per cent of the vote, quite a feat in a five-party parliament. But this week, she has found herself fighting for her political future. Alex Salmond’s sensational claim to be the victim of a conspiracy designed to destroy him — even ‘imprison’ him — has the potential to bring down the House of Sturgeon.
Salmond alleges that his successor has misled the Scottish parliament on multiple occasions about her knowledge of (and involvement in) her government’s investigation into complaints of sexual misconduct made against him. Far from knowing nothing and being in no way involved, Salmond argues that the First Minister, and those close to her, were deeply involved in a process subsequently deemed ‘unlawful’ at judicial review. This isn’t about the charges against Salmond (none of which stood up in court) but the way in which the Scottish government brought the case against him.
If Sturgeon has nothing to hide, it is baffling that her government is behaving as though she has
Sturgeon claims to have ‘forgotten’ a meeting in her office at which she was notionally first informed of this investigation.
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