An awful lot rests on the independent ministerial code inquiry

Nicola Sturgeon admitted the catastrophic failure of the judicial review but she did not admit misleading parliament.

An awful lot rests on the independent ministerial code inquiry Getty Images

Nicola Sturgeon said today this inquiry is not about Alex Salmond – it is about her and the government she leads.

She took responsibility for some of the problems here – she admitted the catastrophic failure of the judicial review – but she did not admit breaking the ministerial code or misleading parliament – they are the two of the most serious charges against her.

Opposition MSPs on the committee say she failed to answer some of their questions, avoided answering some of their questions

But she did admit some of her evidence was imperfect. At times she seemed quite emotional talking about her relationship with Salmond, but said she was not out to get him and dismissed the idea of a conspiracy as absurd.

In the last few days you’ve seen the two biggest figures in the last 20 years of Scottish politics and given the evidence they have produced to the committee you can see why they’re the two biggest figures in Scottish politics over that period.

Nicola Sturgeon today referred repeatedly to the independent ministerial code inquiry and I think that is the next stage in this – that is what there is an awful lot resting on – on the future of Scottish politics – and we should get the result of it, just like the committee, in the next three weeks.