Nicola Sturgeon has admitted she will be "haunted" for the rest of her life by the Scottish Government's botched handling of complaints made against Alex Salmond.
The First Minister was challenged today by the Scottish Conservatives over the recent publication of legal advice which shows SNP ministers were urged to concede a judicial review brought by her predecessor.
Ruth Davidson claimed Sturgeon's initial reluctance in December 2018 to concede the case ended up costing the taxpayer as much as £200,000 on top of already mounting legal fees.
Salmond denied complaints made by two women dating to his time as First Minister and claimed the Scottish Government investigation into the matter was biased.
He was vindicated by a court ruling in January 2019 which criticised Holyrood's complaints process - a decision which cost the taxpayer at least £600,000.
Speaking at FMQs today, Sturgeon said that Scots were free to read the published legal advice themselves and reach their own conclusions on why ministers chose to concede the case when they did.
"I think what the opposition is trying to do is give the impression that what we have published is somehow a rosy picture - and there are horrors lurking underneath that are being concealed," the First Minister said.
"Anyone who reads the evidence can see this is not the case. Serious error was made in this investigation, and as the judicial review proceeded, that error became very apparent, and ultimately that is why the judicial review had to be conceded.
"Perhaps instead of chasing phantoms, the opposition should focus on what is there. Because it sets out very clearly the mistake the government made and the government needs to learn from that."
She added: "We're taking these issues really seriously, and in unprecedented fashion, we have put into the public domain information from which people can draw their own conclusions.
"I want everything about this to be open and transparent, because I do want to learn lessons."
Ruth Davidson said that legal advice suggested if the government had conceded the case earlier it could have "reset" the complaints process - but a failure to do so had failed the two women complainers.
The Tory MSP said: "I don't put this lightly, this week again has shown sexual complainants cannot trust the ruling party to deal with their complaints properly."
Sturgeon said: "Ruth Davidson has, perhaps belatedly, started talking about the women and I welcome that.
"That is the issue right at the heart of this. I will be haunted for probably the rest of my life by the way in which the government, through an error - an error I think made in good faith - let down those women.
"I've apologised for that. I wasn't involved in the investigation so I wasn't aware of the error at the time, but as head of the Scottish Government I take and feel responsibility for that."
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