Sturgeon presses Davidson over Russia cash

FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called on Ruth Davidson to condemn Russian donations to the Tory Party in the wake of the chemical attack in Salisbury.

She issued the challenge at First Ministers Questions, after her Tory rival pressed her on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “propaganda mouthpiece” – the state-backed RT TV channel that former SNP leader Alex Salmond hosts a chat show on.

While Ms Davidson did not mention the former first minister by name, the comments on RT could be seen as a thinly-unveiled attack on Mr Salmond and the SNP.

Ms Davidson said:“We have a proud tradition in this country of a free press, which acts without fear or favour, a media which seeks to meet the highest standards of objectivity so that people get the truth.”

But she questioned if “objec- tivity is poisoned when state agents pump propaganda into the households of this country”. She said: “The fact of the matter is Russia Today exists for the sole purpose of promoting Putin’s regime and it serves him well in that purpose.

“It acts as an apologist for a government which all the evidence shows has directly or indirectly been culpable in a chemical attack on Britain’s soil.”

Leaders of Britain, the US, Germany and France have issued a joint statement blaming Russia for the poison attack.

The four allies said it was “an assault on UK sovereignty” and a breach of international law that “threatens the security of us all”. The statement was issued as Prime Minister Theresa May visited the scene of the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. HOLYROOD WEEK: PAGE 20