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Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints 03 March 2021

03 Mar 2021 · S5 · Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints

Item of business

Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints

Sturgeon, Nicola SNP Glasgow Southside Watch on SPTV

In the terms that you have just put it, Ms Mitchell, it would clearly not be acceptable. However, you will not be surprised to hear that, although I understand the frustration—and I will come on to the way in which I share some of that frustration—I do not accept the characterisation. I say that as a statement of fact and it is not in any way an attempt not to answer the question. As members will be aware, at the outset of the investigation, I recused myself from the Government’s handling of it because I thought that that was appropriate given that I am the subject, at least in part, of the investigation. The Government has made available substantial amounts of written and oral evidence. I am not aware what material you are referring to that is within the Government’s control that the committee still feels that we have not handed over. If that has not already been made known to the Government and if it can be, I am sure that attempts will be made to rectify that, within the constraints within which we operate. I have already talked about the position in relation to legal advice, but there are also court orders in place as well as the substantial and elaborate process that the Government has had to go through in order to release information in line with all of its legal obligations—I know that the committee understands that because the committee has had to go through that, too. There are other elements of information that it has been claimed the committee has not had when it should have done. That is a matter for the committee to address. That material is not within the control of the Government. There is material that is restricted in relation to what can be published, although I am not sure that it is restricted in relation to what the committee can consider, because of a contempt of court order, and there is the matter of information that was handed over in the course of the criminal trial. I know that the committee has had extensive deliberations with other witnesses about that. As First Minister, I have to take the committee’s comments seriously, but there is no intention on the part of the Government to withhold relevant information from the committee. The final point is the part where I share some of the frustration. I understand why this is the case—I say that in case there is any suggestion that this is a criticism of the committee, which it is not intended to be—but I have waited a long, long time to be sitting here while allegations and claims have been swirling around about me, without me having the ability to address them. As information that it has been claimed would be devastating to the Government’s position and would prove all sorts of things has come to light, including information that the committee has seen, it has proved to be nothing of the sort. There is also frustration on my part. When there is information that is not known to the committee, often what is suggested about it bears very little relation to the reality of it. Therefore, within all the legal constraints, which none of us can magic away, I want as much of this to be known and to be out there in public, because while the Government made mistakes—and I will come on to those—there is nothing here that the Government has to hide.

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Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints 03 March 2021

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