Salmond called a ‘hypocrite’ in row over official legal advice on Europe
ALEX Salmond was branded a ‘hypocrite’ last night after he told TV presenter Andrew Neil ‘the art of politics is not to lie’ – nearly three years after being accused of telling the same broadcaster a ‘barefaced lie’.
The former First Minister used an interview to attack shamed Lib Dem Alistair Carmichael and his f ormer colleague Sir Malcolm Bruce, who this week said the Commons would empty ‘very fast’ if all MPs who lied had to resign.
But Mr Neil recalled a 2012 interview with Mr Salmond about EU legal advice, suggesting that he had been ‘economical with the truth’.
Nationalists had repeatedly claimed that an independent Scotland would be a ‘continuing’ mem- ber of the EU and would not have to sign up to the euro single currency.
In the original interview, Mr Neil asked Mr Salmond: ‘Have you sought advice from your own Scottish law officers on this matter?’
He responded: ‘We have, yes, in terms of the debate.’
Mr Salmond’s ministers even launched a legal challenge when Information Commissioner Rosemary Agnew ordered them to disclose whether or not any advice existed, eventually saddling taxpayers with a £19,453 bill.
In the end Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister at the time, was forced to admit later in 2012 that no legal advice existed. Last night, a spokesman for the Scottish Labour Party said: ‘It seems Alex Salmond’s selective memory is almost as astonishing as is his hypocrisy.
‘As First Minister, Alex Salmond spent £20,000 of taxpayers’ money to hide legal advice which turned out not to exist.’
Discussing Sir Malcolm’s comments on BBC programme This Week, Mr Salmond said: ‘I thought that was a very original defence of his colleague. No, it’s not true.
‘The art of politics is actually not to lie.’
But Mr Neil challenged him: ‘ When you t ol d me s everal years ago that you had official legal advice that Scotland could as an i ndependent country automatically stay in the European Union, that was a little economical with the truth wasn’t it?’ ‘You kind of misremembered that, Andrew,’ said Mr Salmond, to which the presenter replied: ‘Oh no I haven’t!’
Mr Salmond, now MP for Gordon, continued: ‘Well, OK, two reasons. One, I said “in terms of the documents” and then there was an inquiry by Sir David Bell which cleared me of lying to you.’