Salmond's Olympic club hire criticised

UK Political Editor

Friday 24 August 2012

ALEX Salmond has been accused of "wasting a monumental sum of public money" on a vanity project after it emerged last night not a single business deal has been signed as a result of the SNP Government's Scotland House project during the 2012 Olympic Games.

alex SALMOND: Spent £400,000 on hire of Pall Mall pavilion.

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MICHAEL SETTLE UK POLITICAL EDITOR

Critics had attacked the First Minister for deciding to spend £400,000 of taxpayers' money on turning the plush Army and Navy Club, near Buckingham Palace, into Scotland House while the UK Government had offered up Dover House, the Scotland Office in Whitehall, for free.

The Scottish pavilion in upmarket Pall Mall was near the UK Government's own British Business Embassy at Lancaster House, which hosted 14 business summits, attracting 3000 business leaders and policymakers from around the world.A spokeswoman for UK Trade and Investment said the Business Embassy had been a great success with a business deal clinched every day; in one, Brazilian IT multinational Asyst International announced plans to create 700 UK jobs over the next three years. The Government agency expects the economic benefit of the 2012 Games to total £13 billion.When Mr Salmond opened Scotland House on July 27 he quipped how for the 17 days of the 2012 Games the club would become a "little bit of England that is forever Scotland" with receptions promoting Scottish business, sport and culture. Scottish Enterprise, VisitScotland and Creative Scotland were among the organisations helping to fund an "extensive programme of engagement" at Scotland House. However, soon after it opened there were reports the venue was largely deserted for much of the day with suggestions many visitors were officials transported down from Scotland.Asked what deals had been signed as a result of Scotland House, a Scottish Government spokesman said: "Scotland House hosted over 80 events and attracted more than 3000 visitors. More than 500 business leaders attended events designed to bring Scottish businesses together with potential investors in Scotland with a range of business meetings and potentially lucrative introductions, laying the groundwork for potential new investment or new jobs in Scotland."Asked if that meant no deals had been signed, the spokesman replied: "We have not made any deals from Scotland House", but he stressed: "It provided a platform for making connections and taking forward conversations."Last night, Margaret Curran, the Shadow Scottish Secretary, said: "Every month people across Scotland are trying to make ends meet and now we hear Alex Salmond's half-a-million pound vanity project has brought no money and no jobs to Scotland. People will be wondering if the SNP can be trusted with their taxes."Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, said: "This lavish ambassadorial-style party was supposed to generate business interest in Scotland but now we find not a single deal was signed. Alex Salmond may wish to present himself as some kind of presidential figure but must remember he still answers to the people of Scotland and he needs to explain why he wasted such a monumental sum of public money on this vain project."Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: "This has turned out to be a very expensive vanity project for Alex Salmond. Even though Dover House was offered to him free of charge, he was determined to do his own thing even though it's cost us hundreds of thousands of pounds."He added: "The UK Government built on the back of the Olympics and ran a very professional operation, which the Scottish Government could have directly benefited from but it preferred to do its own thing."

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Salmond's Olympic club hire criticised

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