Anger at £470,000 for Ryder Cup visit

Political Editor

Thursday 29 November 2012

THE Scottish Government spent £470,000 sending two ministers and more than 30 officials on a Ryder Cup visit.

kjhkjh Catherine Day, kjhkjh kjhkjh kjhkjh kjh kjh jkh kjh jkhkj h TEAM: Alex Salmond and his delegation joined European fans at the Ryder Cup in a trip that cost £470,000. Main picture: EPA

Custom byline text:

Magnus Gardham Political Editor

Jackson Carlaw, the Scots Tory deputy leader, accused ministers of taking a "travelling circus" to the US.

The First Minister led the trip to the Europe versus US golf tournament at Medinah, near Chicago, in September.

The delegation – officially dubbed "Team Scotland" – also included Sports Minister Shona Robison, 12 Scottish Government officials and a further 22 officials from VisitScotland and other quangos. In addition, representatives from Gleneagles Hotel, Perth & Kinross Council and Tayside Police attended the tournament. The First Minister took part in the closing ceremony, receiving a silver putter to mark Scotland taking over as Ryder Cup host. The tournament will be played at Gleneagles in 2014. Other engagements during his five-day stay included the launch of Airdrie-based potato firm Albert Bartlett's Rooster brand in the US. He also delivered a speech to business leaders at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and attended a concert linked to the Celtic Connections music festival. Full details of the trip were provided in a parliamentary answer yesterday by Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop. She said: "The Team Scotland approach in Chicago will help ensure we maximise the economic benefits of hosting the Ryder Cup in 2014, which will generate at least £100 million." The bill for the trip was £468,580, though Ms Hyslop insisted "every effort was made to minimise costs". Mr Carlaw said: "I am generally accepting of the First Minister's US trip, given that Scotland will host the next Ryder Cup. However, like most taxpayers, I am astonished that the costs incurred bear more relation to a head of state with a travelling circus than to the more modest expense which would have been appropriate and justifiable." Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP said: "When money is tight, spending half a million pounds on a trip to the USA has to be questioned for value for money." Labour MSP Patricia Ferguson said: "To find out that Alex Salmond's trip to watch the golf cost all of us almost half a million pounds is eye-watering. "This comes on top of the tens of thousands of pounds spent on his trip to the opening of Brave in California." A spokesman for the First Minister said: "This is breathtaking hypocrisy from Labour. They spent more than this on Tartan Day trips to the US during each of their last three years in office."

Additional Images:

Contextual targeting label:

Arts and Entertainment

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Anger at £470,000 for Ryder Cup visit

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED