PEOPLE have reacted furiously to a demand by Murdo Fraser for Nicola Sturgeon to say sorry to the people of Scotland for asking them to trust Alex Salmond.
During the committee hearing today the Tory MSP asked the First Minister if she "owed an apology" to Scots.
Sturgeon said: "I trusted him and I am not going to apologise for the behaviour of somebody else. If I have things in my behaviour to apologise for, I will apologise.
"But I do not think it is reasonable to ask me to apologise for the behaviour, some of which he will deny of course, of Alex Salmond. I think the only person who should apologise for any behaviour on his part which he was asked to do on Friday and failed to do is Alex Salmond."
Fraser's request to Sturgeon provoked an angry reaction on Twitter among people watching the committee hearing.
Emma Ritch, director of the feminist group Engender wrote: "It is deeply sexist to ask women to apologise for the behaviour of men. #MeToo."
It is deeply sexist to ask women to apologise for the behaviour of men. #MeToo
— Emma Ritch (@EmmaRitch) March 3, 2021
Michael Stewart, a well-known footballer turned pundit, hit out: "Murdo Fraser asking FM to apologise for asking Scotland to trust Alex Salmond and vote for Independence. When will Unionists understand Independence isn’t about a few individuals at a certain period of time."
He added: "It was an extremely poor question. I find this whole episode difficult because I think Alex Salmond was an exceptional FM and now I see Nicola Sturgeon doing a stellar job. Fault and blame lie across the board here but not a single part of this alters views on Indy."
It was an extremely poor question. I find this whole episode difficult because I think Alex Salmond was an exceptional FM and now I see Nicola Sturgeon doing a stellar job. Fault and blame lie across the board here but not a single part of this alters views on Indy
— Michael Stewart (@mstewart_23) March 3, 2021
Fellow Yes supporter Margaret Young: "What misogyny from Murdo Fraser asking a woman to apologise for the actions of a man."
Earlier at today's hearing, Sturgeon accused Salmond of "deeply inappropriate behaviour" towards one of the women who made allegations against the former SNP leader.
The First Minister is giving evidence today to the Holyrood committee investigating how the Scottish Government mishandled its own internal complaints process - a mistake which ended up costing the taxpayer more than £500,000.
Two women had raised complaints against Salmond in 2018 dating to his time as First Minister and the government launched a probe.
READ MORE: RECAP: Nicola Sturgeon's evidence at Holyrood inquiry this afternoon
Salmond denied the allegations and insisted the complaints process was biased against him - a claim vindicated in the Court of Session in January 2019 which found the government had acted unlawfully and that its action "was tainted with apparent bias".
However, at the inquiry today, Sturgeon accused her predecessor of "deeply inappropriate behaviour".
After the Government conceded the civil case, the former First Minister faced trial on sex offence charges and was acquitted of all of them after a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh last year.
His defence advocate Gordon Jackson QC said during the trial that his client could have been a "better man".
He said: "If in some ways the former First Minister had been a better man, I wouldn't be here, you wouldn't be here, none of us would be here."
Last Friday Maureen Watt SNP MSP asked Salmond at the committee about a matter which resulted in an apology to a woman.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon denies her government should have conceded Salmond case earlier
Salmond replied: "Ms Watt, I have had three years of two court cases, two judges and one jury. As far as such matters are concerned, I will leave it to the courts and the jury. I am not going to be drawn in further than that. I think that that is an entirely reasonable position under the circumstances."
Committee convener Linda Fabiani stepped in a number of times to warn the committee it was the Scottish Government that was under investigation by the committee, not the former First Minister.
"Mr Salmond is not on trial by the committee, so please be much more general in your comments," she told the LibDem committee member Alex Cole-Hamilton, who then went on to press him over "culture and behaviours" while he was First Minister.
Fabiani interjected: "As I have said already, we are not here to look at Mr Salmond’s actions. We are here to look at the Scottish Government’s actions in relation to the complaints."
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