Rishi Sunak to face no action over Nicola Sturgeon joke from Police Scotland
The Prime Minister was reported to police by Alba Party general secretary Chris McEleny
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Police Scotland have said no action is being taken against the Prime Minister after the Alba Party complained about a comment he made about Nicola Sturgeon.
The party, led by Alex Salmond, made a complaint against Rishi Sunak, who poked fun at the former first minister after she was arrested and questioned as part of Police Scotland’s investigation into her party’s finances – dubbed Operation Branchform.
He said: “Nicola Sturgeon wanted to go down in the history books as the woman who broke up our country but it now looks like she may go down for very different reasons.”
Ms Sturgeon was released without charge following her arrest in June.
Chris McEleny, general secretary of the Alba Party, reported Mr Sunak to the force for contempt of court allegations on Wednesday.
The Conservative leader, who was addressing his party’s conference in Manchester, made the comments as he claimed the union between Scotland and the rest of the UK was “the strongest it has been in a quarter of a century”, with the Prime Minister adding that “the forces of separatism are in retreat”.
Mr McEleny said that “Operation Branchform should be free to pursue its investigation fearlessly without interference from Rishi Sunak”, adding as a result he was “formally complaining about the offence of contempt of court”, requesting a police investigation.
The Alba general secretary stated: “The Prime Minister is commenting on, and making an assumption about a live Police Scotland investigation.
“In Scotland contempt applies from arrest, not from charging. Operation Branchform is investigating serious matters of the utmost importance the Scotland and trust in politics.
“It is too important a matter to allow interference from the Prime Minister in this act of contempt when many people await the facts of Police Scotland’s investigation.”
However, Police Scotland confirmed on Thursday they would be taking no action against the Prime Minister for the comments.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We have received a complaint and, following consultation with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, no police action is being taken at this time.”
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