Salmond slammed for ‘secret’ hotel stays

WESTMINSTER’S top law officer in Scotland has criticised Alex Salmond for holding back details of his stays in s ome of the world’s most luxurious hotels. The Advocate General for Scotland, Lord Wallace, used a s peech marking the tenth anniversary of Scotland’s Freedom of Information Act yesterday to question why the SNP believes the information should be a ‘great secret’.

Earlier this year, the Scottish Government finally published details of Mr Salmond’s foreign jaunts following an eight-month battle. A separate Freedom of Information row lasted around 15 months before it was revealed taxpayers paid for luxury accommodation for SNP ministers in Dubai, Beijing, Tokyo and New York.

Lord Wallace congratulated Nicola Sturgeon on her appointment as First Minister, and added: ‘I’d like to offer encouragement in her commitment to open government.’

But he continued: ‘The Scottish Government’s record has not always lived up to this high aspiration. What is the great secret about which hotel abroad the First Minister stays in on public business and the cost of that accommodation?’

Earlier this year, the Mail revealed how Mr Salmond spent more than £20,000 of taxpayers’ money on three US trips.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We release information in response to the majority of requests.’