Huge Nicola Sturgeon investigation update as secretive SNP forced to publish key document
Scottish ministers have repeatedly tried to withhold information about the investigation into the country's former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
SNP government ministers' attempts to keep information related to an investigation into Nicola Sturgeon secret has suffered a devastating blow this week. Scottish ministers have repeatedly tried to keep the legal advice the SNP had received during the probe under wraps, even rejecting freedom of information (FOI) requests from members of the public.
However, the SNP-led government has now been dealt a "humiliating rebuke". The Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) has ordered the Scottish Government to disclose the advice it received related to former Irish prosecutor James Hamilton's investigation into the former First Minister.
Scottish Conservative MSP, Murdo Fraser, said that the SNP's tendency to keep information out of the public eye had been brutally exposed. He said: “Secrecy has been the hallmark of the actions of government officials throughout the Salmond controversy and the commissioner believes their latest attempt to suppress the publication of legal advice was unjustified."
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He added: “The public may not follow every legal twist in this long-running saga but they can see an SNP Government with an ongoing aversion to transparency – and they are entitled to ponder why that might be.”
The case revolves around the inquiry in 2021 when Mr Hamilton investigated whether Ms Sturgeon broke the ministerial code when her predecessor Alex Salmond was being investigated for sexual harassment.
The Irish lawyer probed whether the former first minister misled MSPs about when she met Alex Salmond's chief of staff following harassment allegations made against Mr Salmond.
Ms Sturgeon was cleared during the probe, while Mr Salmond had been cleared in court of 14 offences in 2020.
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An FOI request was sent to the Government asking that the legal advice it had received be published.
The Scottish Government refused the request, citing "confidential legal information".
This week, the SIC said under FOI law public authorities must justify any exemptions and criticised the Scottish Government’s reasoning as “largely generic with limited reference to the specific circumstances of the case”.
The SIC's David Hamilton has told the government it must disclose the information by October 26.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has received the Scottish Information Commissioner’s decision. It would not be appropriate for us to comment further on a live appeal case.”
