Tories blast Salmond for outburst at respected economists

ALEX Salmond has launched an astonishing attack on Scotland’s most respected economic forecaster after it warned the country is in danger of falling into recession.

The former First Minister was criticised for an ‘embarrassing’ outburst after he ridiculed the Fraser of Allander Institute, headed by one of his own former economic advisers, for ‘misreading’ the economy.

He attacked politicians, the BBC and other media organisations for discussing the prospect of a recession before new GDP figures were published this week showing the economy had increased by 0.8 per cent in the first three months of this year.

He also accused opposition MSPs of being ‘incompetent’ – despite suffering the humiliation of being rejected by voters in last month’s General Election.

Dean Lockhart, economy spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: ‘This is typical behaviour of the SNP towards any company or organisation – however respected – that dares to have a different view from the Nationalists.

‘We saw it with ministers calling to demand answers from Highland Spring

‘Embarrassing behaviour’

earlier this week. Now we have a former First Minister blasting one of the most distinguished institutes in Scotland.

‘It’s embarrassing behaviour, and this is yet another outburst from Alex Salmond which should shame the Nationalists.’

Last week, the Fraser of Allander Institute, led by Professor Graeme Roy, who served as senior economic adviser to the Scottish Government under Mr Salmond, said Scotland is ‘stuck in a cycle of weak growth, declining confidence and poor investment and net export figures’.

It said the economy was in a ‘precarious’ position and added that ‘whether or not Scotland has formally entered technical recession is in the balance’.

In an article for a pro-independence paper yesterday, Mr Salmond attacked the institute and other ‘merchants of doom’ who suggested Scotland may suffer a second consecutive quarter of negative growth, meaning it would be in recession.

Professor Roy said: ‘Our latest commentary and analysis of this week’s positive GDP figures provide a comprehensive and impartial assessment of current trends in the Scottish economy – analysis which is entirely consistent with both this week’s GDP data and wider economic indicators.’