Nicola Sturgeon says she did not conspire against Alex Salmond

The First Minister said she will refute accusations made by Salmond she misled the Scottish Parliament when she appears before a committee of MSPs.

Asked about Salmond's claims on BBC's Marr Show today, she said: "I don't accept that and I will refute that vigorously."

Sturgeon said she had hoped to appear before the Holyrood committee investigating the Scottish Government's handling of harassment complaints this coming week, but her appearance had been delayed by a "couple of weeks".

She said: "I will sit before that committee and I will set out my account of what happened, given the very difficult situation that I faced, and people can make their own judgments on that."

Asked if Salmond was "spinning false conspiracy theories", Sturgeon said: "What I certainly reflect on is that at times I appear to be simultaneously accused of colluding with Mr Salmond to somehow cover up accusations of sexual harassment on the one hand.

"And then on the other hand, being part of some dastardly conspiracy to bring him down.

"Neither of those are true."

She continued: "I, at the time I became aware of all of this, just tried hard not to interfere with what was going on and not to do anything that would see these swept aside rather than properly investigated."

Sturgeon said the Scottish Government had made "mistakes" in its handling of the complaints, which would be the subject of the Holyrood inquiry.

At the end of last week the Scottish Parliament launched an unprecedented legal bid to force the Crown Office to hand over documents relating to Salmond.

Holyrood invoked a clause in the Scotland Act for the first time to demand the details are disclosed to the parliamentary committee.

It included any text or WhatsApp messages between the SNP's chief operating officer Sue Ruddick and Sturgeon's officials or ministers during the Scottish Government probe into harassment claims against Salmond.

Holyrood chief executive David McGill's letter also asked for documents relevant to how details of complaints were leaked to a newspaper in August 2018.

It referred to alleged evidence that "elements of the Scottish Government (including special advisers)" used the harassment inquiry to "damage the reputation" of the ex- First Minister.

"Previous correspondence between the Committee and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service sets out the difficulty for the Committee in knowing exactly what material the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service holds," McGill's letter said.

"That said, the Committee understands that you may hold documents relevant and necessary for the Committee to fulfil its remit, in particular the documents specified below.

"It has been asserted to the Committee that the documents include evidence that elements of the Scottish Government (including special advisers) used the Scottish Government’s Harassment complaints procedure and complaints considered through the same to damage the reputation of Alex Salmond, former First Minister.

"It is in the public interest to establish the veracity of these claims in order to allow the Committee to understand fully the actions of the Scottish Government in handling the complaints and in order to inform the conclusions of our Committee in line with its

remit."

It went on: "1. Any text or WhatsApp communications between Ms Ruddick, Chief Operating Officer of the Scottish National Party and Members of the Scottish Government, Scottish Government civil servants and Scottish Government Special Advisers during the time frame of August 2018 to January 2019 and relevant to the Committee’s Inquiry, including the Judicial Review by Alex Salmond, former First Minister.

"2. Documents relevant to the circumstances in which details of complaints under the Scottish Government procedure on sexual harassment complaints was leaked to the Daily Record newspaper in August 2018, following the investigation by the Scottish Government and proceeded by the judicial review by Alex Salmond."

The committee has given the Crown Office until January 29 to hand over the documents.

Linda Fabiani, the SNP MSP who is convener of the Holyrood committee, said last week: “This is a step that hasn’t been taken lightly, and is a first for this parliament, but which the committee felt was needed as it continues its vital work.”

The committee was established in the wake of a judicial review made by Salmond where the Scottish Government admitted its internal investigation of two harassment complaints against him had been unlawful, unfair and "tainted by apparent bias".

As a result the Scottish Government had to pay out more than £500,000 in legal expenses to the former First Minister, who was later acquitted of 13 charges of sexual assault in a separate criminal trial.

The Crown Office last week said it would respond to the request “in early course” but that it had already told the committee there were potential legal constraints on releasing the material.

In taking the decision to issue the notice, the Committee Convener, Linda Fabiani SNP MSP said on Friday: "Throughout this inquiry, the Committee has been determined to get as much information as possible to inform its task.

“It was today agreed that the Committee will use its powers under Section 23 of the Scotland Act to require the Crown Office to produce a number of documents.

“This is a step that hasn’t been taken lightly, and is a first for this Parliament, but which the Committee felt was needed as it continues its vital work.”