ALEX Salmond has come under fire for refusing to hand back a £65,000 "golden goodbye" resettlement grant he claimed when he stood down as a Westminster MP.

 

The grant is designed to provide assistance to MPs who are leaving politics, but Mr Salmond continued serving as an MSP and leader of the SNP when he accepted the financial support after standing down from his Banff and Buchan seat at Westminster in 2010.

Scottish opposition parties have called on him to repay the cash after he announced he would seek to return to the Commons in next May's general election.

A spokesman for the Scottish Labour Party said: "Alex Salmond spent the referendum telling Scots why we should leave Westminster behind, but now he plans to head back there. Being an MP isn't a retirement project, it's a full time job. But Alex Salmond only seems to want it as a platform to campaign for independence funded at taxpayers' expense."

Conservative MSP Alex Johnston also attacked the former SNP leader for attempting to break his own party's opposition to "dual mandate politicians".

He said: "With Alex Salmond seeking a return to Westminster, the public would generally accept that this money has been paid inappropriately. When cash from the taxpayer has been paid out inappropriately, it should be returned."

An SNP spokesman said Mr Salmond has already donated £25,000 - half the post-tax sum - to a charity he set up in his mother's name. They added that, if elected next year, he would also donate either his new MP or current MSP salary to the Mary Salmond Trust.