Respect Nicola Sturgeon's privacy around her divorce from Peter Murrell, says John Swinney
First Minister John Swinney says the public should respect Nicola Sturgeon’s privacy after she announced she is separating from her husband.
On Monday the former first minister posted on Instagram to announce she and husband Peter Murrell are to divorce.
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Hide AdThe pair have been married since 2010 and for years were the SNP’s power couple, holding the positions of party leader and chief executive simultaneously. They have been credited with turning the party into an election-winning powerhouse.


However, Mr Swinney, who was Ms Sturgeon’s deputy first minister, said the public needed to respect Ms Sturgeon’s privacy at this time.
Speaking to journalists at an event in Stirling on Wednesday, the First Minister said: “All I will say about this is that the end of any relationship is a very sad process and, of necessity, a private process.
“I think those circumstances should be respected.”
He added: “We should just respect people’s privacy.
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Hide Ad“However high-profile people are in public life, they’ve got entitlement to a private life and I think we should respect people in their space to do so.”
His comments came after former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale branded the media coverage of Ms Sturgeon’s announcement as “disgusting”.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay on Tuesday hinted the announcement was tied to Operation Branchform, the police investigation into SNP finances. But that suggestion was dismissed by Mr Swinney.
Mr Murrell has been charged with embezzlement as part of the investigation, and Ms Sturgeon was arrested and later released without charge.
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Mr Findlay said: “It’s obviously a private matter. I’ve got a calculator on my phone that’s perhaps less calculating than the former first minister.
“She doesn’t do very much at all without a reason, but I guess it may well be connected to ongoing issues that are happening.”
Mr Swinney said bereaved people should be allowed to “grieve in peace” after former first minister Alex Salmond’s wife Moira called for attacks on her late husband’s reputation to stop.
Mrs Salmond released the statement over the weekend after an interview by Ms Sturgeon where she said she had stepped in “many times” when Mr Salmond had been “really rough on people”.
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Hide AdMr Swinney then discussed Mr Salmond’s behaviour during an interview with BBC’s The Sunday Show.
On Wednesday, he said: “I responded to a question put to me on Sunday. I said what I said, I have nothing to add.


“I do believe that those who are grieving should be allowed to grieve in peace.”
Over the weekend, Mrs Salmond said she was still grieving her husband, who died of a heart attack in October while in North Macedonia, and stressed the comments being made were causing her and her family “great distress”.
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Hide AdShe said: “Attacks by the living on the dead will seem to many as deeply unfair. My wish, and sincere hope, is that these attacks will now stop.
“I am therefore asking those involved to recognise that all they are doing is causing hurt and pain to his family. From this point on, please let Alex rest in peace.”
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