An Angus head teacher has been told she should hang her head “in shame” as Alex Salmond reopened a row about whether pupils should study the Black Watch play.
Websters High School head Jane Esson has come under fire and faced protests after she withdrew the text from the Higher drama programme.
No other school in SNP-run Angus Council is studying the play but that did not stop the former First Minister attacking the Kirriemuir school’s leadership after being asked about the issue during a question-and-answer session at the party’s conference.
To applause, he said: “It’s a remarkable play and any education authority and any head teacher who thinks it’s inappropriate for such a play about understanding the psyche of this nation, in my estimation should hang their heads in shame.”
Mrs Esson has written to parents explaining her decision and has received the backing of the Parent Council.
She wrote: “It is a very powerful and thought-provoking stage play but my professional view is the explicit text is too demanding for our young learners in a classroom setting.
“The play has not been banned from the school. It is available for use by pupils for personal study or for home reading.”
Dundee High School rector John Halliday has previously said attacks over the decision amount to bullying.
Although technically a fringe event, the ex-SNP leader ended up on the main stage of the SECC’s auditorium, where Nicola Sturgeon and Stewart Hosie delivered their keynote speeches from, as he spoke to around 2,000 delegates.
He accused the BBC of being biased in the run up to the referendum, ruled out any prospect of Scotland leaving the UK without a vote and admitted one of the regrets he had about the campaign was not to set out earlier the options for the currency of an independent Scotland.
A BBC Scotland spokesman said: “Our coverage of the referendum was fair and balanced and our coverage of the general election is fair and balanced.”
Mr Salmond also branded Tory attempts to portray Ed Miliband in his pocket “fundamentally stupid” and ineffectual.
He said neither Labour nor the SNP were being harmed by Conservative attacks on the possibility of a post-election deal between the two parties.
Mr Salmond said: “I think you should never, ever put your political opponents on your posters…not because it’s dreadful but because it’s stupid. I think the Tory campaign is fundamentally stupid.”