Under pressure, Scotland’s Sturgeon defends handling of predecessor’s case

Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, defended her government on Wednesday against accusations by her predecessor that she acted illegally in a bitter row that could scupper her campaign to lead Scotland to independence.

The feud between Sturgeon and former first minister Alex Salmond has reached fever pitch in recent weeks, pitting the former friends against each other in a sparring match that has prompted calls by opposition lawmakers for Sturgeon to resign.

The row stems from Sturgeon’s handling of the government’s response to a sexual harassment case against Salmond and whether she misled parliament over the details of what she knew of the allegations against her predecessor and when she knew it.

At a parliamentary inquiry into the government’s handling of the case against Salmond, Sturgeon defended herself from a series of allegations about her conduct, saying she would demonstrate in her evidence she had behaved properly.

In particular, she said she stood by a series of decisions that were made in relation to a judicial review which her government lost. “I will demonstrate that the decisions taken at each stage of it were legally sound,” she told the inquiry.