WENDY Alexander yesterday launched her fiercest assault to date on the Scottish Government, accusing Alex Salmond of granting privileged access to his rich and powerful friends.
Speaking to the Scottish Trades Union Congress conference in Inverness, the Scottish Labour leader claimed the First Minister was running a "special access" administration.
She said Mr Salmond's government was open – to the Trump organisation, Mac
donald Hotels or ScottishPower – but not to the unions or ordinary voters.
In her first speech to the trade unions as Scottish Labour leader, Ms Alexander told delegates: "In Alex Salmond's Scotland, some are indeed more equal than others – the Trump organisation, Macdonald Hotels at Aviemore, ScottishPower, all big businesses with a special pass to the corridors of SNP power.
"We don't need a special access government in Scotland that favours its friends. Scotland needs a government that governs for all and gives access to all."
Mr Salmond's relationship with the Trump organisation has been under scrutiny since Donald Trump announced plans to build a £1 billion golf development in the First Minister's constituency.
Mr Salmond was questioned by a Holyrood committee after ministers decided to "call in" the development, which is now subject to a public local inquiry.
Donald Macdonald, the head of Macdonald Hotels, is an SNP donor and ministers also caused controversy when they intervened to speed up the planning process for an extension to Mr Macdonald's resort in Aviemore.
It also emerged earlier this month that Scottish Government officials had been liaising with a lobbyist on behalf of ScottishPower over the timing of a First Ministerial announcement on behalf of the utility.
Ms Alexander contrasted this with the Scottish Government's decision to award a new franchise to ScotRail without consultation – a move which has angered the unions.
Anne McNair, convener of the SNP trade union group, described Ms Alexander's comments as an "embarrassing gaffe".
Ms McNair said: "Wendy Alexander's baseless accusations have long since been disproved by the hundreds of parliamentary questions and freedom of information requests that have been released by the Scottish Government which, thanks to Wendy and her colleagues, have already cost £50,000 of public money."
And she added: "The reality is that Labour is the party of cash-for-honours: 80p of every pound in individual donations came from people who were later knighted or ennobled."
The chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, Liz Cameron, urged an end to continual references to the Trump application and its use as a political football.
"This is a major planning application which has huge potential economic benefits to the whole of Scotland. We should be embracing this," she said.
"If all politicians, from all parties, are serious about economic development being at the heart of their policies, why are we still experiencing cheap political shots instead of demonstrating full support. Our collective message should be that Scotland welcomes significant inward investment and Trump is a fantastic example of this."
WENDY ALEXANDER'S SPEECHDuration: 20 minutes
Applause at end: 18 seconds
Number of breaks for applause: Three
Number of breaks for laughter: None
Key buzzword: Socialism
Number of times used: Three
Best quote: "We don't need a special-access government in Scotland that favours its friends. Scotland needs a government that governs for all and gives access to all."
ALEX SALMOND'S SPEECHDuration: 25 minutes.
Applause at end: 20 seconds.
Number of breaks for applause: Three.
Number of breaks for laughter: Four.
Key buzzword: Partnership.
Number of times used: Five.
Best line: "No doubt it is a substantial influence to participate with the United States of America in an illegal invasion of Iraq. Just because something is of substantial influence doesn't make it right and doesn't make it positive."
…while Salmond earns unions' applause with talk of 'joint ambitions'ALEX Salmond scored a notable success yesterday when he became the first SNP leader to secure a warm reception from the normally staunchly Labour-supporting STUC.
The First Minister inspired laughter and spontaneous applause throughout his speech to the Scottish Trades Union Congress in Inverness. He did have the advantage of being able to make a major announcement – the decision to build an £840 million hospital in Glasgow with public money – but even taking this into account, he fared better than many union activists expected him to.
Mr Salmond, in the first STUC conference speech by an SNP first minister, chose to highlight favoured left-wing issues of the union movement.
He stressed his opposition to nuclear weapons on the Clyde and to the Iraq war, but the final round of applause, as he finished his speech, was warm and generous.
The First Minister tried to rally Scotland's trade union leaders behind the more left-leaning of the Scottish Government's policies, emphasising in particular the move away from PFI contracts, the scrapping of the graduate endowment and the backing off from private prisons.
But Mr Salmond also set out to stress how much the trade union movement and the SNP had in common – a belief in equality, social justice and fairness – describing them as "joint ambitions for Scotland".
Mr Salmond said they all wanted to see a "rich economy and a rich society".
And he added: "I believe that is what, over 111 years, this congress has stood for, and in this respect and in this regard, my government is proud to stand with you."
The full article contains 901 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
