John Swinney has been criticised for giving £180,000 to "support" a golf tournament next month at one of US President Donald Trump's Scottish course.
The First Minister on Saturday revealed that “advanced negotiations” were under way to provide the public money to help with a major golf competition being held at the Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire.
The timing of the announcement, made as Mr Trump was teeing off at his Turnberry resort during his four-day working holiday to Scotland, led to accusations that Mr Swinney had “bent the knee and kissed the ring” despite his previous outspoken criticism of the US leader.
Today Liz Lloyd, who was chief of staff to former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, said the funding announcement was "clumsy".
Speaking about the funding on BBC Radio Scotland, Ms Lloyd, said such moves seemed “to be something that Trump expects”.
She said: "£180,000 won't really scratch the sides for Trump, but he will see it, and he will think, 'Well, of course, that's what should happen.'
"I think it's maybe been announced in a bit of a clumsy fashion, but I'm sure VisitScotland will be able to say they are doing it entirely for the purposes of promoting golf on the international stage.
"To be honest, if you see the carousel at any of Scotland's airports when the American flights arrive, they are entirely full of golf bags, so it maybe is a good promotional move."
The Scottish Greens were most outspoken in criticising the taxpayer support. “Shame on you, shame on our government,” Ross Greer, the MSP standing to be the party’s next co-leader, told the protest in Edinburgh.
“The Scottish government has bent the knee and kissed the ring. It’s like giving the school bully your lunch money.”
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Patrick Harvie, the party’s outgoing co-leader, said the development “shames Scotland”, adding: “It’s an embarrassing attempt to please a bully, and shows the same craven attitude as Keir Starmer. We should be standing in solidarity with the people on the receiving end of [[Donald Trump]]’s regime.
“John Swinney is making a choice here. He could stand for the values of democracy and human rights.
"Instead, he folds at the first test and hands hundreds of thousands of pounds of our money to the business of a billionaire autocrat. For people like Trump it will never be enough. There can be no appeasement. The more money and more power you give him, the worse it will get.”
“At a time when poverty levels are going through the roof, public services are struggling financially and low-income families are being forced to pay higher and higher taxes, using this money to help any large business with a billionaire owner is going to rub salt in the wounds of ordinary hard-working people,” he said.
“This sop is petty cash for the Trump Organisation. It should instead be given to cash-strapped organisations providing essential services for Scotland’s poor.”
The Scottish Conservatives welcomed the additional funding for golf tourism but said it appeared to be a “hypocritical and cynical sweetener” aimed at currying favour with the world’s most powerful man.
Murdo Fraser, the party’s economy and business spokesman, said: “John Swinney’s disgracefully condemned President Trump’s state visit and then talked up protests while claiming to welcome him to Scotland. Now he’s announced that his government is giving money to a golf course owned by the president during the course of his trip here.
“The First Minister must start acting like a grown-up in his dealings with the president and advance Scotland’s interests rather than trying to appease the childish hostility of his own supporters.”
The US president has already used his trip to repeat his call for the Open Championship to return to Turnberry, declaring his course “the best resort in the world”.
He is expected to travel to Trump International in Aberdeenshire on Monday, where he will open a new course in a significant expansion of his business interests in Scotland.
The £180,000 of funding, to be channelled through the tourism agency Visit Scotland, is intended to assist the “delivery” of the Nexo Championship on the DP World Tour, which takes place between August 7 and August 10, Mr Swinney’s officials said.
In what was initially billed as a “private” visit, Mr Trump is to meet with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, at Turnberry on Sunday. On Monday, he is expected to travel to his Aberdeenshire course.
[[Golf]] tourism is estimated to support around 5,000 jobs in Scotland and boost the country’s economy by £300 million per year. The Scottish government said the funding would “further raise the profile of the area as a leading tourism and golf destination”.
The First Minister said: “I welcome the Nexo Championship being held at the Trump International Golf Links this August. As the home of golf, we have a long-standing track record of support and I am proud this funding will further enhance Aberdeenshire’s reputation as a leading golfing destination and I am hopeful of securing further golfing events in future years.”
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