Nicola Sturgeon on course to win slim majority in Holyrood elections leaving Indyref 2 on a knife edge

Linda Fabiani (Convener)Long-serving SNP MSP who has been deputy presiding officer of the Scottish parliament since 2016. No friend of Salmond, who replaced her as Europe Minister halfway through the SNP’s first term in office.

Nicola Sturgeon has responded directly after it was revealed MSPs concluded she 'misled the 'Holyrood Inquiry into her Government’s botched sexual misconduct probe into Alex Salmond. MSPs on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints Committee voted 5-4 that the First Minister gave an "inaccurate" account of a meeting with her predecessor during the live investigation.

breach of the Ministerial Code - a finding that will pile pressure on Sturgeon to quit.

First Minister provided detailed dates of when the country can expect to begin opening back up.Nicola Sturgeon said a phased re-opening will begin next month with the Stay at Home message being dropped on April 2.On April 5, hairdressers, garden centres, click and collect services and some non-essential retail can open.On April 12, all children will return to classrooms full time.By April 26, all non-essential retail will open, tourist accommodation, gyms, and outdoor hospitality with a

coronavirus deaths and 625 new cases in last 24 hours The First Minister released the figures from St Andrews House in Nicola Sturgeon.

Nicola Sturgeon on March 2, the day before she appeared before the inquiry investigating the handling of harassment complaints against former first minister Alex Salmond.On BBC Scotland's Sunday Show, Andrea Bradley, the assistant secretary of the EIS teaching union, said the Scottish Government was looking for a "good news story that week".However, Ms Sturgeon had previously announced the earliest date for some pupils to return to school would be March 15.On Monday, Education Secretary John

Dunblane massacre will be 'forever in our hearts' as Scotland remembers the tragedy 25 years on.The First Minister took to twitter to call the day 'one of the darkest and most heartbreaking in Scotland’s history'.On March 13, 1996, crazed gunman Thomas Hamilton murdered 16 primary school children and their teacher in Dunblane, sending shockwaves of grief around the world.Hamilton then took his own life.The murder spree remains Britain's deadliest mass shootings and lead to large-scale reforms on

Prestwick, South Ayrshire, gave her doting dad Jamie a dressing down over 'not washing his hands' this week.The tot's lecture was caught on camera as management consultant Jamie joked his daughter could apply to be one of the National Clinical Director Jason Leitch's understudies.Jamie, 41, wrote on social media: "Nicola Sturgeon, heard about Jason Leitch recruiting for understudies."Please find enclosed another candidate application."Little Rosie donned her bright pink stethoscope before

First Minister is taking questions from MSPs on the coronavirus committee at Holyrood.Nicola Sturgeon is being quizzed on her handling of the pandemic and how Scotland will exit lockdown in the next couple of weeks and months.MSPs will ask Nicola Sturgeon, and Dr Gregor Smith, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, a number of questions on the pandemic.The meeting will take place virtually and can be viewed on the Scottish Government website.

John Swinney said the release "utterly" disproved a conspiracy theory by Salmond around the Government's handling of the case.A Holyrood committee is investigating the Government’s mis-handling of sexual misconduct complaints against Salmond when he was First Minister.Salmond took the government to court and it was agreed the internal probe, which destroyed his friendship with Sturgeon, had been unlawful.The flaw in the botched investigation, which cost the taxpayer over £600,000, was that the

Lord Dunlop, who also advised Theresa May when she was Prime Minister, added that Unionists should not bank on the “Salmond imbroglio” bailing them out.Recent opinion polls have shown the SNP are on course to win an outright majority at the Holyrood election in May.If she is returned as First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon will demand the UK Government agree to a second independence referendum.However, Boris Johnson has ruled out supporting indyref2 and senior Tories are wanting a strategy to counter

Ayrshire agency nurse.Claire Smith, from Ayr, has written to the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to ask if the government would reconsider their stance on the £500 Covid-19 bonus not being extended to agency staff.The 38-year-old staff nurse says when the NHS became overwhelmed by coronavrius cases, it was agency staff who ‘stepped up to help’.The mum-of-two was sent oversees to British territory Gibraltar at the start of the pandemic last year, by her then employers, Newcross, to support NHS

Salmond by two women when he was First Minister.Salmond took the government to court and it was agreed the internal probe, which destroyed his friendship with Nicola Sturgeon, had been unlawful and tainted by apparent bias.The fiasco cost over £600,000 of public money.Salmond gave evidence last week and accused his successor of misleading parliament over aspects of the scandal..Giving her own evidence, she said “two women were failed and taxpayers’ money was lost, I deeply regret that.”The First

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First Minister said there was "good evidence" the national vaccination programme was already reducing the number of deaths from the virus across the country.And the SNP leader revealed the average number of covid cases being reported each day in Scotland had dropped to 657 - the lowest rate since October.It means all primary school pupils will be able to return to class as of March 15 - with high schools reopening full-time after the Easter break.Sturgeon added that a further review of easing

iOS and Android.NHS Ayrshire & Arran hospital numbers reduced dramatically overnight by eight with 94 now in health board venues with the virus. This is the first time they've fallen below 100 since December 10ICU numbers now stand at five for the fourth consecutive day.And 24 new cases were detected in Ayrshire.

coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the Scottish Government has announced.542 new cases have been identified overnight across the country.Since the start of the pandemic, 7,164 people have lost their lives to coronavirus in Scotland while 203,012 have tested positive.A total of 784 people are being treated in hospital for the virus with 71 in intensive care.Yesterday Health Secretary Jeane Freeman marked one year since the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Scotland.She said: “During the last

school after the Easter holidays.In a statement to MSPs the First Minister said all primary school children will be back in the classroom in two weeks time by March 15.The resumption of face-to-face learning is dependent on the state of the virus in Scotland.Last week kids from primary one to three were allowed back to the classroom after restrictions were lifted slightly.The SNP leader said all primary school pupils will be able to return to childcare as well in the coming weeks.Sturgeon told

Sturgeon is the focus of an investigation over whether she misled the Scottish Parliament on when she knew about allegations of harassment made against her predecessor Alex Salmond.Sturgeon said she first learned of the complaints in a meeting with Salmond at her home in early April 2018, but it later emerged she had been told by his former chief of staff in her Holyrood office a few days prior, a fact she claims to have forgotten.The First Minister has referred herself for investigation by

Anas Sarwar after he became the new Scottish Labour leader.Despite being longtime political rivals the First Minister has admitted she 'likes and rates' Sarwar after he scooped the top job.It comes after he beat out Monica Lennon the Labour leader position this morning.The Scottish Labour leadership contest finally drew to a close as this morning as politicians rallied round Sarwar's win.Sturgeon tweeted: "Congratulations to @AnasSarwar- he (and his dad before him) and I are longtime political