Nicola Sturgeon claims delays to Sue Gray’s inquiry being published are “aiding” Boris Johnson’s escape from the partygate scandal.
The First Minister said the hold-up was getting “murkier by the minute” as she responded to reports the government is trying to influence what is shown to the public.
Earlier it emerged the Met Police asked civil servant Ms Gray not to release of major parties they are investigating.
It’s feared the request from senior officers could seriously hamper her inquiry into the actions of Mr Johnson and Downing Street staff during lockdown.
Scotland’s frst minister claimed the muddled inquiry process could Mr Johnson avoid “public accountability”.
Hitting out at the Tory PM, she said he is only interested in “saving his own skin”.
‘Murkier by the minute’
She wrote: “This gets murkier by the minute. Sue Gray and the Met are in difficult positions but the sequence of events and the situation arrived at now creates the suspicion – however unfairly – that the process of inquiry is aiding Johnson at the expense of public accountability.
“I doubt Johnson cares about damage to the reputations of others – individuals or institutions – as long as he saves his own skin. But these things matter.
“Rapid conclusion and full publication of the findings of inquiries surely now essential for public trust.”
The Prime Minister had previously committed to releasing the whole report in full.
He again brushed off calls from political rivals and Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross to resign this week by saying they should wait for the inquiry to come out.
Tory MSP hits back
However, Ms Sturgeon was criticised for her intervention.
Scottish Tory MSP Jamie Greene claimed the first minister was not in “strong territory” following the Holyrood inquiry last year over whether she misled parliament.
The SNP chief faced claims she lied to Holyrood MSPs about when she first heard about sexual harassment complaints against her predecessor Alex Salmond.
A Holyrood committee ruled Ms Sturgeon had breached the ministerial code, but a separate investigation by lawyer James Hamilton ruled she had not.
1/ This gets murkier by the minute. Sue Gray and the Met are in difficult positions but the sequence of events and the situation arrived at now creates the suspicion – however unfairly – that the process of inquiry is aiding Johnson at the expense of public accountability https://t.co/wZd4FlvgbY
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) January 28, 2022
