NICOLA Sturgeon has failed to tell parliament whether she has ever used private or SNP email addresses to conduct government business.

The First Minister appeared taken aback when Tory MP Donald Cameron put the question to her at FMQs.

As opposition MSPs urged her to reply “Yes or No”, Ms Sturgeon said: “Rightly or wrongly, most of my conduct of Government business is on paper. I receive paper boxes, not email boxes, and I make handwritten notes. We will continue to respond to Freedom of Information requests about email correspondence on any particular issue.”

Her official spokesman later claimed Ms Sturgeon didn’t use her government email account, relying on her private office instead, and did no “substantive” government business using other email accounts.

Mr Cameron sits on the Holyrood committee probing Ms Sturgeon’s contacts with former First Minister Alex Salmond last year, while he was being investigated by her officials over alleged sexual misconduct in office.

He said Ms Sturgeon’s failure to answer a simple yes-no questions was simply not good enough.

He said: “Surely everyone can agree that using private emails to conduct government business is wrong. If it has happened, it only begs the question as to what the First Minister has to hide. The SNP Government already has a desperate record when it comes to transparency. I hope she will do the right thing and make her position clear over the coming days.”