NICOLA Sturgeon and all of her ministers are to snub Alex Salmond’s new TV show, the Scottish Government has confirmed.
The First Minister and her team are to refuse to appear on Russian propaganda outlet RT.
The pro-Kremlin channel, widely seen as a mouthpiece for president Vladimir Putin, is due to broadcast the first episode of the weekly Alex Salmond Show on Thursday.
Asked if any ministers would be on the show this week or in future, Ms Sturgeon’s official spokesman said: “I don’t expect so. I don’t think you’ve seen any Scottish Government ministers on RT at any time, so I don’t anticipate that changing anytime soon.”
The frosty attitude to Mr Salmond’s new venture reflects anger at the top of the Scottish Government that it helps neither the SNP or the cause of Scottish independence.
Ms Sturgeon, who also failed to appear at her predecessor's Edinburgh Fringe show this summer, said last week that RT “would not have been my choice”.
She also said that if she had been consulted, she “would have advised against RT and suggested he seek a different channel to air what I am sure will be an entertaining show.”
Mr Salmond announced last Thursday that he and fellow former SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh had struck a deal with RT, which is forced to register in the US as an arm of the Russian government.
Mr Salmond will anchor the half-hour slot, while Ms Ahmed-Sheikh will be a roving reporter.
The show is being made by the pair’s new company, Slainte Media Ltd.
The former First Minister has faced widespread criticism and ridicule over the project.
In a Westminster debate on Monday, Scottish Secretary David Mundell said: “Anything Alex Salmond says cannot be relied on. It is good to get that on the record before that well-known Bolshevik begins his new career.”
Colin Clark, the Tory MP for Mr Salmond's previous Westminster seat of Gordon, said: "If Nicola Sturgeon thinks it’s inappropriate for SNP ministers to appear on a pro-Kremlin TV channel, she needs to explain why she thinks it’s fine for her former boss to have his own show on RT.
“She needs to condemn Alex Salmond’s actions in the strongest possible terms, and rule out any of her MPs or MSPs joining him on this Russian job creation scheme.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel