Nicola Sturgeon urged to 'come clean' over bullying probe into SNP MSP Fergus Ewing
Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to “come clean” over a Scottish Government bullying probe into a senior SNP MSP. The First Minister is under pressure to disclose the outcome of an investigation into claims made against her former Cabinet colleague Fergus Ewing.
She has refused to do so on the grounds of “GDPR privacy issues”, sparking an angry backlash. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “Nicola Sturgeon must come clean on the outcome of this bullying case - and explain what action her government has taken to tackle this problem in her party.” It was reported in 2020 that Ewing was the subject of a bullying complaint by civil servants when he was Sturgeon’s Rural Economy and Tourism Cabinet Secretary.Allegations were said to have been made by three officials.The allegations were initially handled informally, but then escalated into a formal process.A spokesman for Ewing said in 2020: “Mr Ewing completely rejects the claims against him.”It is understood the probe has been completed - but the Government is now refusing to comment on the outcome.The Record asked the First Minister directly last week about the outcome of the bullying complaint.She said: “Look, I’m not going to get into that right now because there are all sorts of GDPR privacy issues around all of these things.
I’m happy to come back to you on that when I kind of look to see what I’m able to say and not say.”The stonewalling echoed a previous response given to us in September.A Scottish Government spokesperson said at the time: “We do not comment on individual HR or employee matters.”Sarwar said: “There is a corrosive culture of secrecy at the heart of the SNP government, which is risking the principles of transparency and accountability at the heart of
