Here are the headlines from a dramatic day at Holyrood:

• An inquiry by MSPs into the Scottish government’s handling of harassment complaints against Alex Salmond found there were “fundamental errors” in the Scottish government’s harassment procedure. The committee recommended changes to the complaints process.
• Nicola Sturgeon misled their inquiry, according to a majority of the MSPs. They said there was a “fundamental contradiction” in the first minister's evidence - although the SNP members disagreed.
• “Serious flaws” were identified in the handling of a judicial review which led to £500,000 of public money being spent on failed court action.
• The committee also said it was “hindered” by the Scottish government, with MSPs complaining of delays and “drip-feeding” of vital documents.
• A vote of no confidence in the first minister was later defeated by 65 votes to 31, with 27 abstentions. The Greens backed the SNP, while Labour and most Lib Dems abstained.
• The Scottish Conservatives' Holyrood group leader Ruth Davidson, who brought forward the motion, had told MSPs that "the honourable thing" would have been for Ms Sturgeon to resign.
• Ms Sturgeon apologised "unreservedly" to the women who were let down, but told MSPs she would not be "bullied" from office.
• Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar described it as "a day of shame for our parliament".
• Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said the women who complained had been "failed"
• Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said any MSP who had leaked information should not be allowed to stand in May's Holyrood elections.

The Scottish government has said that individuals should not be blamed for the "flaws" in implementing the harrassment procedure.

The head of Scotland's civil service, Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, had been singled out for criticism by the committee.

But a government spokesperson said she had operated in line with the Civil Service Code, and that all decisions were informed by legal advice.

"The government has accepted that there were flaws in the way the procedure was implemented.

"That was, however, a collective failure and, to place that at any individual’s door would miss the critical point of correcting wider failure."

Dave Penman, chairman of the FDA union, also said the mistakes were not the fault of any one individual.

He told BBC Scotland’s Drivetime programme: “Usually when things go wrong it is for multiple reasons, a series of events and decisions taken by numerous people, rather than a single individual. Accountability does not simply mean someone’s resignation.”

Image source, Scottish Parliament

During the debate Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said he wished everyone's focus had remained on the "extremely serious issue" which launched this entire process.

What we have seen since has been a "deliberate, systematic and cynical exploitation of the matter for motives which are all too apparent today," he says.

He says the focus should be on how it affects victims of harassment and "those who want to call it out".

Mr Harvie says members of the inquiry committee pre-judged the evidence by making multiple pronouncements during the course of its work.

He says those MSPs had committed a "disgraceful betrayal of trust" of the original complainants, and that what should have been a serious inquiry had "descended into farce".

The no confidence vote had been tabled by Tory MSP Ruth Davidson, who said nobody had taken responsibility for the failures in the Scottish government's handling of complaints against Alex Salmond.

But MSPs voted by 65 to 31 to reject the motion, with the Greens backing the SNP. Labour and most Liberal Democrats abstained, as did independent MSP Andy Wightman.

Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles supported the motion of no confidence, along with Reform UK's Scotland leader Michelle Ballantyne.

A Holyrood committee inquiry had earlier published a report which concluded that there were "serious flaws" in the government's approach.

A majority of MSPs on the committee said Ms Sturgeon had misled the inquiry in her evidence, and that they found it hard to believe that she was not aware of concerns about Mr Salmond's alleged behaviour before November 2017.

However, an independent investigation by Irish lawyer James Hamilton concluded on Monday that Ms Sturgeon had not breached the ministerial code.

Image source, PA Media

A vote of no confidence in First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been defeated by 65 votes to 31, with 27 abstentions.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie says the women who complained have been "failed".

He adds: "When they stepped up we were not there for them."

Mr Rennie adds the Conservatives were "only interested in removing Nicola Sturgeon from office rather than the facts of this terrible series of events".

He continues: "They have undermined the integrity of the independent investigator."

Mr Rennie also says that Scottish politics today "does not look pretty".

"Talk of lynching, assassination, leaking the private evidence of complaints, tabling motions of no confidence before even all the evidence had been heard, attacking a committee because it does not agree with first minister, lauding the performance of Nicola Sturgeon because she talked to a committee for over eight hours - as if the show is more important than the facts - boasting about recruiting new members on the back of this tragedy.

"No-one wins from this ugly episode."

Image source, PA Media

Mr Sarwar says he lodged an amendment to the motion being debated which "recognised the gravity of the government’s failures and demanded that someone takes responsibility, whilst also calling out the shameless game-playing by the Conservatives".

He regrets that the amendment was rejected, which leaves the chamber with a "binary choice".

He says he does not have confidence in the way the government handled the Alex Salmond complaints, or its record in office.

But he also has no confidence in a Tory party which "seeks to use this awful episode in our country’s history in the futile and vain pursuit of a cheap political scalp".

He says Labour cannot support a motion designed "purely at dividing our country and our politics still further".

Anas Sarwar cites the fact the Conservatives lodged the vote of no confidence on 4 March, before the Hamilton inquiry or the committee inquiry had concluded, as evidence of "an opposition guilty of playing grubby party politics on an issue as serious as sexual harassment".

"This is a day of shame for our parliament," he says.

"Scotland deserves a better government. And it deserves a better opposition."

The Scottish Labour leader says he accepts the conclusion of both inquiries but says nobody "has taken responsibility for the catastrophic failings by this government".

There are still "serious questions" for permanent secretary Leslie Evans and the first minister, he says, because "the buck ultimately stops with her".

It "cheapens" the parliament, he believes, for the government to attack the work of the committee, which risks "calling into question the verdict of every committee of this parliament ever".

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar says government failings have "shaken" trust in the system and risk discouraging victims to come forward.

They have also called into question the integrity of government and undermined principles of transparency and accountability, he says.

Mr Sarwar says there are huge failures and big questions to be answered, and "there are no winners in this debate".

"The spectacle of using a harassment inquiry as a recruiting tool was grotesque," he says.

Mr Sarwar also accuses the Conservatives of only being interested in "getting a scalp".

Nicola Sturgeon says that if James Hamilton's report had "gone the other way" then she would have accepted it.

"Had he found that I had breached the code on anything other than the most technical and immaterial of ways, I would have been standing here right now tendering my resignation.

"Because the integrity of the office I am so privileged to hold really matters to me.

"The office of first minister is more important than any temporary incumbent of it."

The first minister says she has a message to those, especially the Conservatives, who refuse to accept the conclusions of Mr Hamilton's independent report.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Responding to Ruth Davidson's opening remarks, Nicola Sturgeon says: "There are some in this chamber who decided before a single word of evidence was said that I was guilty in relation to the handling of complaints against the former first minister.

"The only question is what they would chose to find me guilty of.

"In recent months I have faced allegations of conspiracy against, collusion with and cover-up on behalf of Alex Salmond.

"None of that is supported by evidence because none of that is true."

The first minister admits that she may not have got everything right in handling a situation which was "extremely difficult" both politically and personally.

"I accept that some people faced with the same situation may have made different decisions but I am clear in my mind that I acted appropriately and that I made the right judgements overall, and I reject entirely any suggestion of misleading this parliament."

Ms Sturgeon adds that she is "at peace with my own conscience".

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon describes the Scottish Conservatives' position as a "desperate attempt to claim my political scalp".

She says the government will study the report's recommendations closely and take its recommendations seriously.

Ms Sturgeon says the mistake made in the handling of complaints against Alex Salmond was serious and had serious consequences.

She says: "Once again I want to apologise unreservedly to the women who were let down as a result of that.

"It will be a priority of mine for as long as I am first minister to ensure lessons are learned and that trust is re-established so that anyone in future who considers that they have suffered sexual harassment has the confidence to come forward and know that there concerns will be listened to and addressed."

Image source, PA Media

Ruth Davidson said Nicola Sturgeon had "proclaimed her respect" for the work of the parliamentary committee "right up until the moment it became clear its outcome would not suit her.

"Then her respect for it vanished in an instant."

Ms Davidson said the committee had found that the first minister had misled parliament.

"Nothing can erase that fact, however inconvenient it is to the first minister and her supporters," she said.

"And let’s remember, that by misleading this Scottish Parliament, she misled the people of Scotland too.

"No first minister who truly wanted to live up to the ideals of this parliament should feel able to continue in post after having been judged guilty of misleading it."

And she adds: "The honourable thing would be to resign."

Ruth Davidson reads out the words Nicola Sturgeon spoke on 17 January 2019.

"It strikes me that people cannot call for inquiries and then refuse to respect the work of those inquiries. I will respect the work of those inquiries; the question is, will others across the chamber?"

The Conservatives' group leader says those who "have traduced the committee, have rubbished its work, thrown mud at its members, made baseless claims regarding its outcomes and disrespected its conclusions" are "the members sitting behind the first minister".

Ms Davidson says her party "publicly accepted the Hamilton report" and yet others have rejected the committee’s findings.

Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives in Holyrood, brought forward the vote of no confidence.

She says that following the publication of both reports over the past two days "nobody comes out of this well, apart from the original complainants, and the external counsel to the Scottish government".

Ms Davidson also states that "nobody has taken responsibility for the multiple failings at every level which occurred".

She reminds the first minister that she promised to respect the work of the inquiries.

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

It's vital that the women who first raised the complaints against Alex Salmond aren't forgotten in all of this.

They gave evidence to the committee in private last week. Members say they appreciated their bravery in coming forward and found what they had to say compelling.

The complainers, known as Ms A and Ms B, say they hoped to create a precedent of women coming forward, but fear that the handling of the complaints may have hindered rather than helped that.

One described the whole experience as completely crushing.

She said: "It went from feeling that we had made people feel able to speak up, when they thought that they would never be able to, to feeling that we had just created a position that left them open to so much often personally-directed abuse and misrepresentation on social media."

The women called for a moratorium on party politics when it comes to dealing with matters of this kind.

Their words should give pause for thought to all at Holyrood.

Image source, PA Media

Deputy First Minister John Swinney has said the Scottish government will "learn lessons" and implement improvements to its procedures after the publication of the committee's report.

A committee of MSPs concluded the government's handling of the complaints against Alex Salmond was "seriously flawed", and that the women who made the allegations had been badly let down.

Mr Swinney acknowledged the government's mistakes which led to the judicial review being conceded had a "real and damaging impact" for the women who raised the complaints and apologised "unreservedly".

“I remain absolutely determined that the Scottish government should ensure this does not happen again and that together we create a culture where these behaviours do not arise," he said.

The deputy first minister said the committee report, the independent inquiry report published yesterday and a review of complaints procedures by Laura Dunlop QC highlighted "a range of important issues" and "the basis for improvement work".

The government will "carefully consider" all the recommendations in order to "put improvements and an implementation plan in place”, he added.

Image source, PA Media

Almost certainly not.

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said yesterday that his party would not support the Conservatives' vote of no confidence in the first minister.

The support of the Greens, who hold five seats at Holyrood, is crucial for the SNP, which is the largest party with 61 seats - but does not hold an overall majority in the 129-seat parliament.

Even if the 30 Conservative MSPs are joined by Labour (23 seats), the Liberal Democrats (five), the three independent MSPs and Reform UK MSP Michelle Ballantyne, there would not be enough votes for the motion to succeed.

“In lodging a vote of no confidence before this report was published, just as they called for the first minister's resignation before she even gave evidence to the parliamentary committee, the Tories have shown that they have no interest in establishing the truth," Mr Harvie said yesterday.

He added the independent report "retains credibility in this process, unlike the parliamentary committee which has repeatedly sabotaged its own authority and betrayed the trust of original complainers".

The Scottish Conservatives maintain Nicola Sturgeon should resign after MSPs on a Holyrood committee concluded she misled them over the investigation into harassment allegations against Alex Salmond.

This finding represents a potential breach of the ministerial code.

However, it came the day after the first minister was cleared of any breach of the code by an independent inquiry conducted by senior Irish lawyer James Hamilton.

In their report, the MSPs also found the handling of complaints was seriously flawed and the women who made the allegations had been badly let down by the government.

Image source, PA Media

Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser, a member of the inquiry committee, told BBC Scotland that the women who made the complaints against Mr Salmond were "badly let down”.

“Hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money was wasted paying the legal costs of the former first minister because of the failure of the judicial review," he said.

“The first minister was very keen to stress, when she gave evidence, that ultimately – as the first minister of Scotland and head of the Scottish government – she takes responsibility.

“That is why there is a vote of no confidence today in relation to the first minister’s handling of this whole affair.”

Image source, EPA

A vote of no confidence in the first minister will take place in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon.

It comes hours after after a Holyrood committee investigating the Scottish government's handling of harassment complaints published its report.

The MSPs concluded there were "fundamental errors" in the Scottish government's harassment procedure, and that Nicola Sturgeon had misled their inquiry in her evidence - although the SNP members disagreed.

The Scottish Conservatives had already called for the first minister to resign, and said they would hold a vote of no confidence if she did not step down.

Ms Sturgeon said on Monday that she was "delighted and relieved" that a separate, independent report by James Hamilton had cleared her of breaching the ministerial code.