Nicola Sturgeon will face a Holyrood inquiry into the botched Alex Salmond sexual misconduct probe and its aftermath, it has been confirmed.
MSPs on the parliament’s business bureau agreed this morning to examine the case and the related conduct of the First Minister.
READ MORE: Alex Salmond took lawyer to sex probe meeting with Nicola Sturgeon
The remit of a specially-created committee will be agreed in the coming weeks, with the whole process likely to cast a shadow over the SNP government for months.
The committee is expected to probe the three meetings and two phone calls between Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond while he was under investigation by the government.
Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond both said they would cooperate with the inquiry.
The Scottish Government’s investigation of two misconduct complaints against the former First Minister collapsed in court last week, after ministers admitted it had been unfair.
Ms Sturgeon has since been accused of a grave error of judgment for meeting Mr Salmond during the probe after he first told her about it at her home on 2 April last year.
She has referred herself to ethics watchdogs over a potential breach of the ministerial code.
Ms Sturgeon’s chief of staff Liz Lloyd is also under pressure, after it emerged she helped broker the April 2 meeting and was present at Ms Sturgeon’s home that day.
Mr Salmond’s former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, said today that he met Ms Lloyd in late March, before the meeting, and that she told him she suspected the Scottish Government was investigating a complaint into Mr Salmond - information she should not have known.
Mr Aberdein also said Ms Lloyd said she did not know specific details, and that she did not share her suspicion with the First Minister.
Interim Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said: "An investigation has been botched, two complainants have been let down, and hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been wasted.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon asked about apparent 'smears' from Alex Salmond's team
“These are clearly matters for the Scottish Parliament to investigate, and the inquiry must be able to examine what went wrong and why this was allowed to happen.
“The setting up of the inquiry does not mean that legitimate questions cannot be asked – or answered – in the short term.
“For example, it is reported today that the First Minister’s chief of staff told a former colleague of Mr Salmond in March of last year that she ‘suspected’ an inquiry was on-going.
“Why was she speaking about this inquiry to third parties? Did she tell Nicola Sturgeon of her suspicions too? Or are we really to believe that Ms Sturgeon’s own chief of staff kept this from her?
“This scandal cannot be swept under the carpet. Parliament must, and now will, get the chance to probe this matter fully, learn lessons, and ensure it can never happen again.”
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “This is the right decision and a positive step forward. Full transparency in this matter is essential in order for the public to have confidence in the First Minister and the Scottish government.
“That means full public and parliamentary scrutiny.
“At all times it is essential to remember that at the centre of all of this are two courageous women who put their faith in a system that has badly let them down, and we must never lose sight of that, by safeguarding the duty of care to them and their access to justice.
“We must restore trust and confidence in the system, this committee will be an important step towards that.”
Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie, who initially dragged his feet over an inquiry, said: "Scottish Liberal Democrats have said throughout this process that the police investigation must be the priority.
"These complaints deserve to be thoroughly investigated by the police without political interference.
“There was unanimity at today’s meeting that there should be a new parliamentary inquiry. To that end, parliamentary officials have been asked to work up the remit and scope for an inquiry.
“This inquiry must be precise and structured. It must address the concerns that have arisen over the actions of the First Minister, her advisers and officials.
"Its purpose will be to give confidence that people can make complaints about harassment in the future and have their complaint dealt with seriously and effectively.”
A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: "Bureau members unanimously agreed to create a new committee of inquiry. Officials have been asked to prepare options on its remit and membership and these will be discussed at a future meeting of the Bureau.”
Mr Salmond's spokesman said: "Alex will be happy to co-operate, in principle and if asked, with a parliamentary inquiry which seeks to examine how the administration of the Scottish government could get itself into a position where the Court of Session had to rule that it had acted 'unlawfully', 'unfairly' and 'tainted by apparent bias'.
"We believe the Permanent Secretary should already have accepted the responsibility for that expensive farce which has cost the Scottish people an estimated £500,000.
"Everyone, those who complain and those complained about, has the right to the protection of a procedure which is fair, balanced, confidential and above all lawful.”
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