The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Salmond in meeting on welfare snub
ALEX SALMOND was slammed last night after it emerged he is to miss a crunch meeting to discuss the impact of welfare cuts on Scotland.
The First Minister will not attend today’s Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) meeting in London, which allows the leaders of devolved administrations to directly question the UK Government about policies.
Today’s summit, which will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and focus on controversial changes to the welfare system, will involve the First Ministers of Northern Ireland and wales and Scottish Secretary Michael Moore.
However, Mr Salmond has decided not to attend as he is giving a speech to an energy convention in Aberdeen.
His deputy, Nicola Sturgeon, has also declined the invitation. Ironically, she will lead a debate on the welfare changes at the Scottish Parliament this afternoon.
The Scottish Government will instead be represented at the JMC by Government Strategy Secretary Bruce Crawford and Public Health Minister Michael Matheson.
Both Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon also failed to attend the previous JMC meeting in February.
But the latest snub is understood to have particularly enraged the UK Government because Mr Salmond has been critical of the welfare reform bill, which introduces an annual cap on benefits and overhauls many payments within the welfare system.
A UK Government source said: “It is particularly disappointing since welfare reform is an area where the Scottish Government has been keen to express its opinions and this would have been an opportunity for the First Minister to discuss the issue at the highest level.”
But a spokesman for the First Minister defended the decision not to attend.
“The meeting tomorrow is the JMC in its domestic format, Mr Cameron won’t be there, and the Scottish Government will be ably represented by both Bruce Crawford and Michael Matheson.
“The First Minister will be in Aberdeen, giving a keynote address at the All Energy Conference as part of the Scottish Government’s efforts to continue to attract inward investment and jobs to Scotland.” CHERYL COLE looked like the cream of the crop last night at the premiere of her first Hollywood movie.
The Girls Aloud singer, dressed in an off-white Victoria Beckham gown, joined actress Cameron Diaz at London’s BFI IMAX cinema for the screening of pregnancy comedy What To Expect When you’re Expecting.
Cole — who was dramatically axed from Simon Cowell’s US version of The X Factor — makes her big screen debut in the film, playing a TV talent show judge.
Cole signed autographs and posed for pictures with the hundreds of fans in attendance before the film began.