ALEX Salmond's apology to the Scottish Parliament yesterday was about more than a £9 million discrepancy in the budget for further education colleges.
ALEX Salmond's apology to the Scottish Parliament yesterday was about more than a £9 million discrepancy in the budget for further education colleges.
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It was a tacit admission that, not only had he got his figures wrong, he also refused to countenance he might not be right. Labour leader Johann Lamont correctly said during First Minister's Questions that college funding had been cut. Mr Salmond's combative style in the chamber, however, brooked no argument. Although his figures failed to include additions to the baseline budget, he boasted they were "as exact an answer as anyone has ever given to parliament". Yet the figures did not tally with a previous statement by Education Secretary Michael Russell, triggering a hasty check. Not only was the First Minister wrong but his aides had failed to spot a helpful accompanying note saying "college resource funding has fallen slightly between 2011/12 and 2012/13".
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Salmond's sorry state of affairs
ALEX Salmond's apology to the Scottish Parliament yesterday was about more than a £9 million discrepancy in the budget for further education colleges.
It was a tacit admission that, not only had he got his figures wrong, he also refused to countenance he might not be right. Labour leader Johann Lamont correctly said during First Minister's Questions that college funding had been cut. Mr Salmond's combative style in the chamber, however, brooked no argument. Although his figures failed to include additions to the baseline budget, he boasted they were "as exact an answer as anyone has ever given to parliament". Yet the figures did not tally with a previous statement by Education Secretary Michael Russell, triggering a hasty check. Not only was the First Minister wrong but his aides had failed to spot a helpful accompanying note saying "college resource funding has fallen slightly between 2011/12 and 2012/13".
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