ALEX Salmond has come under fire after suggesting he would have prevented the global banking crash had he continued to work for the Royal Bank of Scotland instead of pursuing a career in politics.
The First Minister, who was visiting the Johnstons of Elgin cashmere factory in the Borders yesterday, said he had promised his bosses at the bank to abandon his ambition to become an MP if he failed to be elected in Banff and Buchan in 1987. In an interview yesterday he said: "If I hadn't won the seat I would have discharged my obligation.
"If that didn't happen then I hope and believe we could have avoided the international banking crisis.
"I'm not like Gordon Brown thinking I could save the world but I might have been able to save the Royal Bank from the company into which it fell."
Mr Salmond worked for seven years as an economist at RBS before becoming an MP.
In 2008, RBS was bailed out by the Government after bad investments brought it to the brink of collapse.
Mr Salmond's claims were ridiculed by his political opponents, who highlighted his previous support for disgraced former chief executive Fred Goodwin and his offer to help the bank during its ill-fated takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro.
Scots LibDem leader Willie Rennie said: "Alex Salmond's ludicrous attempt to rewrite history over his support of RBS's exploits is dealt a fatal blow by his own pen.
"It was Alex Salmond who offered his and Scotland's support to the disastrous takeover bid of ABN Amro as one of his first acts as First Minister in 2007."
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: "It goes without saying that the First Minister has an ego, but this latest claim is absolutely staggering and utterly risible."
Mr Salmond will formally step down from the First Minister role after attending tonight's Scotland versus England match in Glasgow.
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