FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of spinning the cancellation of a business ambassador post that was given to US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The Scottish Government last year rescinded Mr Trump’s status as a 'GlobalScot' over anti-Muslim remarks, but an email reveals his membership was “inactive” at the time and would “very likely” come to a natural end within days.
Although Mr Trump was removed from the role amid a blaze of publicity, the lawyer who has represented him in Scotland, George Sorial, continues to be part of the exclusive body for promoting the country abroad.
Mr Trump is contesting November’s presidential election for the Republicans on the back of a fierce anti-immigration platform.
He has promised to build a “wall” to prevent immigrants from entering the US and called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”.
The latter comment provoked a backlash in Scotland, where Mr Trump has ancestral links and business connections through his golf courses.
In 2006, the then former First Minister Jack McConnell invited Mr Trump to become a GlobalScot, a world-wide network scheme run by Scottish Enterprise.
After his statement on Muslims, the Scottish Government issued a rebuke:
"Mr Trump's recent remarks have shown that he is no longer fit to be a business ambassador for Scotland and the First Minister has decided his membership of the respected GlobalScot business network should be withdrawn with immediate effect."
However, an email between Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Government - sent on the same day as the Government made its public statement - reveals that Mr Trump was within a fortnight of losing the position anyway.
A senior quango staffer wrote: “SE will review the GS membership at the end of the year anyway (i.e. a couple of weeks time) as per normal procedure and as Mr Trump (who is classed as inactive) is very likely he will come off our list anyway at this point, along with a number of other inactive GlobalScots.”
Mr Trump’s son, also called Donald, had his membership deactivated on May 17th this year after it had become inactive.
Mr Sorial, who was Mr Trump’s spokesman during the tycoon’s battles with the Scottish Government over recent years, has been a GlobalScot since around 2007 and remains part of the initiative.
The quango released the email after a judgement by the Scottish Information Commissioner.
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: "Nicola Sturgeon was always going to be embarrassed by her predecessor Alex Salmond's cosy relationship with Donald Trump, so she tried to make a big deal of stripping him of his GlobalScot status. It now transpires that he was going to lose it anyway and the First Minister's actions are exposed as no more than spin."
Scottish Green MSP Andy Wightman said: "Whilst I am delighted that Mr Trump is no longer a GlobalScot, this revelation raises questions about the purpose and effectiveness of the GlobalScot network. Why was Donald Trump Junior appointed in 2010 only to have fallen off the list? And why is Mr Sorial still a member given that I was told in 2012 that he was only ever on it as Trump Senior’s representative?"
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “Mr Trump’s remarks in December last year showed that he was no longer fit to be a business ambassador for Scotland, and it was on that basis that the First Minister decided his position as a GlobalScot should be withdrawn.
“We were aware that Mr Trump’s GlobalScot status was inactive at the time – however, it was a position he still formally held and could have used – therefore, given the nature of his comments and the need to signal the Scottish Government’s view of the matter, it was important that it was withdrawn with immediate effect.”
Mr Sorial did not respond to this newspaper's email.
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