SALMOND ACCUSED OVER PUTIN
Anger as former FM refuses to blame the Kremlin for poisonings
ALEX Salmond has been branded an ‘apologist’ for Vladimir Putin after he defended the Russian regime and refused to say whether it was responsible for the Salisbury poisonings.
The former First Minister, who presents a show for Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT, claimed Russia had ‘certainly not’ interfered in the 2014 independence referendum – and suggested President Putin had acted better than Barack Obama during the campaign.
He said a Westminster committee had relied on ‘laughable’ evidence when it concluded Russia did meddle in the vote.
Mr Salmond, who is standing for election to Holyrood as leader of the new Alba Party, refused to say if he believed the Kremlin was behind the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in 2018. Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael said: ‘Alex Salmond was once hailed as the most effective politician in Scotland but has now been reduced to an apologist for the Putin regime.
‘He has been paid by the Russian state broadcaster for years and the result is his change from respected leader to spinning Russian propaganda lines.’
Asked if Russia had interfered in the 2014 vote, Mr Salmond told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme: ‘Well, certainly not in the 2014 referendum. The only publicity I saw in the 2014 referendum was the suggestion in, I think the Sunday Herald newspaper, that David Cameron had asked Vladimir Putin to intervene on the No side in the referendum campaign and President Putin had refused to do so, which was exactly the proper thing to do.’ A report by Westminster’s intelligence and security committee last year concluded there was ‘credible’ evidence that Russia undertook ‘influence campaigns in relation to the Scottish independence referendum’. But Mr
Salmond said: ‘Anybody who analysed the evidence that was suggested would think it laughable, in my opinion.’
He went on: ‘Of course, other heads of state unfortunately did interfere – President Obama, for example. But again, other heads of state – Angela Merkel – refused to accept David Cameron’s invitation to intervene.’
Asked again if Russia was behind the Salisbury poisonings, he said: ‘The evidence was presented at the time. I’m struggling to understand what this has got to do with a Scottish election campaign.’
When it was suggested this was relevant because of his RT show, he said his own company produces the programme and ‘not a single word’ is edited by RT.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: ‘Just because he has been doing
Russia Today, and Moscow has been bankrolling him in the last few years, doesn’t give him the right to say things like that which are clearly not true, fly in the face of all the evidence.’
During the interview, Mr Salmond again put pressure on Nicola Sturgeon by questioning her approach to independence, saying he was not certain why ‘the case hasn’t been pursued as urgently as it should have been over the last five years’.
He also criticised the BBC when asked about conduct to which he admitted during his trial last year, when he was cleared of all sexual assault charges. Mr Salmond said: ‘Fair-minded people will say the jury heard all of the evidence and came to a conclusion.
‘And fair-minded people won’t appreciate the BBC trying to retry the case, they will accept the result of the jury.’
Last night, Scottish Tory candidate Annie Wells said: ‘This carcrash interview only served to highlight again that Alex Salmond is not fit to hold public office.
‘His appalling refusal to condemn Russia for the Salisbury poisonings shows how deep in the pocket he is to his Kremlin paymasters.’
Meanwhile, George Galloway of the All For Unity party, also an RT presenter, was questioned by the BBC on his views about Russia and the poisonings.
He said this was ‘beyond the purview of the Holyrood elections’.
‘Not fit to hold public office’
ALEX Salmond’s new party is in danger of not getting a single MSP, according to a poll.
The former First Minister faces the threat of humiliation next month after an Ipsos Mori survey found just 3 per cent of Scots intend to vote for the Alba Party in the regional list ballot.
It is estimated that the result would mean Mr Salmond would fail to get elected and his party would have no MSPs.
The poll, carried out between March 29 and April 4, also showed the SNP is on course to win 53 per cent of the constituency vote and 38 per cent on the list, which is likely to be enough to give it a majority.
The SNP’s estimated constituency vote is up one percentage point since the last poll in February, but its share of the list vote has fallen by nine points.
Ipsos Mori Scotland managing director Emily Gray said: ‘Our latest poll results suggest the SNP are on course to win a majority of seats at Holyrood in May. Independence remains the top issue for Scotland’s voters and an independence “supermajority” at Holyrood looks within the realms of possibility.
‘However, our poll indicates that this may come from an uplift in support for the Scottish Greens on the regional vote rather than for the Alba Party.’
The poll puts the Tories in second place on the constituency vote, with 20 per cent, followed by Labour on 18 per cent, and the Liberal Democrats with 6 per cent. On the regional list, the Tories are on 21 per cent, Labour 18 per cent, the Greens 12 per cent, Lib Dems 6 per cent and Alba 3 per cent, with 2 per cent for other parties.
It is estimated that, if repeated on May 6, the SNP would win 70 seats, the Conservatives 25, Labour 19, the Greens 11 and the Lib Dems four.
However, one in three voters said they may still change their mind on who to vote for on the regional list, as well as one in four for the constituency vote.
Mr Salmond was judged to be the least popular party leader, with 64 per cent saying they were dissatisfied with him, compared with only 9 per cent who were satisfied, giving him a net satisfaction rating of -55.
This compared with +29 for Nicola Sturgeon, +26 for Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, +14 for Patrick Harvie of the Greens, +7 for Lib Dem Willie Rennie, and -23 for Scottish Conservative Douglas Ross.
The poll found 52 per cent of voters surveyed would back independence, with 48 per cent who would vote against it.
Mr Salmond said: ‘There have been three polls thus far since Alba’s launch just 12 days ago.
‘Each of them shows identifiable support for Alba.
‘We now have 32 first-class candidates in the field the length and breadth of the country, more MPs than the Labour Party and more members than the Liberal Democrats.
‘As Alba’s name recognition gets across we will gain further ground.’
‘Least popular party leader’