NICOLA Sturgeon has said she is “delighted” to join women leaders from around the world and discuss ways of tackling gender equality at a summit in Italy.
Scotland’s First Minister was photographed front and centre smiling alongside former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, UN climate change executive secretary Patricia Espinosa Cantellano and other leading global figures at the two-day conference.
“Delighted to join this impressive group of women in Italy over the last two days for the Global Women Leaders Summit,” Sturgeon wrote online. “An opportunity to share experiences and consider how to drive faster progress on gender equality and climate change. Thanks to @giwps and @RockefellerFdn.”
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon faces Tory attack for travelling to Italy amid Patrick Grady row
The First Minister was invited to the Global Women Leaders’ Summit, hosted by The Rockefeller Foundation and Georgetown Institute for Women and Peace, which has been taking place since 2017 – but was halted for two years due to the pandemic.
Sturgeon will be using her time at the conference to discuss driving gender equality, protecting women’s rights and tackling change.
The Rockefeller Foundation said: "Despite their differences, members of Connected Women Leaders share a common and urgent vision where more women come into positions of leadership and power, and importantly, change the very nature of how power is defined and shared for the benefit of all communities.”
The SNP chief’s photo with Clinton comes after she was pictured with US president Joe Biden during COP26 in Glasgow last year - something which the Tories had reportedly vowed would not be possible.
She also appeared with US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi during a trip to the States earlier this year.
The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
The Scottish Tories have been highly critical of Sturgeon for travelling to the Italian summit in the midst of a row over SNP MP Patrick Grady.
Grady was found to have behaved inappropriately towards a teenage staffer in 2016. Last week, he was suspended for two days.
Over the weekend, a leaked recording revealed SNP Westminster chief Ian Blackford told his colleagues he is “very much looking forward to welcoming Patrick back”, urging MPs to offer Grady “as much support as possible”.
The Scottish Tories' chief whip at Holyrood, Stephen Kerr, tweeted: “Nicola Sturgeon is the sort of politician to fly to Italy to give a speech about protecting women, but avoid taking any action to help a victim of one of her own MPs.
“Don't forget this.”
The comments were retweeted by fellow MSP Annie Wells.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel