STURGEON INSULT TO WAR HEROES
Outrage as SNP leader snubs service to honour British soldiers
FAMILIES of Scottish soldiers reacted with fury yesterday after Nicola Sturgeon failed to attend a service honouring those who died in Afghanistan.
The First Minister was sent an invitation by the Ministry of Defence to attend the service at st Paul’s Cathedral in London but declined the offer – and tweeted about her kitchen instead.
Last night the families launched a blistering attack against the SNP leader, saying it was ‘an insult’ to the 38 scots who died while fighting in the 13-year war.
Miss sturgeon chose to meet council leaders rather than attend the service in the company of the Queen, the Royal Family, Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour leader Ed Miliband, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and former Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.
The scottish Government was instead represented at st Paul’s by Keith Brown,
the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities and Minister for Veterans.
Last night, the mother of Sean Binnie, a young Scots soldier killed during a firefight with insurgents in Helmand Province in 2009, launched a bitter attack on the First Minister’s failure to attend in person.
‘I’m in a wheelchair and I made it down from Aberdeen,’ said 47-year-old Janette Binnie, who accused Miss Sturgeon of showing total disregard for Scottish families as well as the national regiment.
She added: ‘The First Minister owes the families a sincere apology for leaving us without official representation. It is totally unacceptable what she has done. It is shameful.’
Mrs Binnie emailed the First Minister a month ago, asking her if she would be attending, but said she had still not received a reply: ‘The way she has treated the families and the Royal Regiment of Scotland is wholly embarrassing.
‘If it had been Alex Salmond then he would have attended. Personally, I feel let down by her. Serious questions must now be asked as to why she never attended such a major event to represent our country.’
There was a smaller service in Edinburgh’s Canongate Kirk, which ran in parallel with the London commemoration, but government ministers were not invited.
Widow Yvonne Cameron, 46, was at the Edinburgh event to remember her husband, Colour Sergeant Alan Cameron of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards, who was blown up by a roadside bomb.
Of the main service at St Paul’s, she said: ‘I thought the First Minister would have been there. I just presumed it would have been her. Everything else I’ve been to, other memorial services, Alex Salmond used to always be there.’
Mrs Cameron’s parents, Janette and Stan Jackson, from Newtongrange, were also critical of the First Minister’s decision not to attend St Paul’s. Mrs Jackson, 65, said: ‘I think she should have gone down. She represents Scotland. There were a lot of Scottish soldiers killed in Afghanistan, too.’
Denise McCallum, 34, whose brother, Lance Sergeant Dale McCallum was serving with the 1st Battalion Scots Guards when he was killed by the Taliban in 2010, said: ‘It isn’t right that she didn’t go. But if the event was more important, then that is fine.’
Miss Sturgeon chose instead to attend the annual conference of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) at the plush Crieff Hydro hotel in Perthshire.
While the memorial service was being staged in London, the First Minister even found time to joke on Twitter about her kitchen.
In a reference to the controversy over the revelation that Ed Miliband’s home has two kitchens, she wrote: ‘All questions about my kitchen should be directed to [husband] Peter Murrell – he is better acquainted with it than I am.’
At the same time in London, a sombre Prince Harry, who served two tours during the conflict, was at the service along with his brother Prince William and his heavily-pregnant wife Kate, as well as the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. The Duke of York, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, The Duke of Gloucester, Secretary of State for Defence, Service Chiefs and other senior political and military figures were also there.
The Dean of St Paul’s, the Very Reverend Dr David Ison, paid tribute to the commitment of the nation’s service personnel, and prayed for the leaders and people in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister paid tribute to those who fought to free Afghanistan from the Taliban, saying: ‘Today we stand together to honour the bravery and sacrifice of the thousands of British men and women who served our country in Afghanistan.’
At the Cosla event, Miss Sturgeon answered questions on education, policing and other local government i ssues. The main topic being debated at the conference was how to improve teacher numbers. Miss Sturgeon was speaking around midday, when the London service was drawing to a close.
When asked by a Daily Mail reporter why she had not attended the commemoration at St Paul’s Cathedral, the First Minister refused to give an answer – and instead directed enquiries to her communications team.
She said ‘If you get in touch with my comms...’, before walking off. Her aides then ushered her into a waiting car.
Last night, a Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The First Minister was unfortunately unable to attend the Service of Commemoration for Afghanistan due to another diary commitment.
‘She asked Keith Brown, who has responsibility for veterans and is himself a former Royal Marine, to represent the Scottish Government on her behalf, to pay tribute to all those who served and to those who lost their lives.’
Mr Brown was just 19 years old when he sailed out to the Falklands with his fellow Royal Marines in the task force to help retake the islands for Britain.
Yesterday, Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont said: ‘I think the people of Scotland would expect their First Minister to attend such an event. Many Scottish soldiers lost their lives in Afghanistan, and it is right that this is commemorated. Nicola Sturgeon, like her predecessor, is happy enough to go to London to give lectures on the constitution. But I think it would have been appreciated if she had attended today.’
A Scottish Labour spokesman said: ‘Scots would expect our First Minister to have attended this service to mark the contribution of the servicemen and women who gave their lives to keep us safe.’
The SNP did not oppose the military action in Afghanistan, unlike in 1999 when Alex Salmond said Nato’s airstrikes against Serbia were an ‘unpardonable folly’. But the party called for troops to return home from Afghanistan by the end of 2011.
Comment – Page 18
‘It isn’t right that she didn’t go’