ALEX SALMOND has been accused of acting “like a bull in a china shop” by a prominent ex-SNP politician.
Independent MSP for Lothians Margo MacDonald has written to the First Minister to urge him to improve the way he presents his ideas and vision of an independent Scotland.
Ms MacDonald predicted the First Minister would regret the “wasted energy and diminished public approval” that she said resulted from trying to jump the gun on an independent Scotland’s potential European Union membership.
She made scathing reference to the confusion over what discussions, if any, had taken place over the issue in the wake of controversy over when the Scottish Government asked for legal advice.
She said: “Fair-minded people can see that Alex Salmond wants our country to be decent, caring, and willing to share responsibility for trans-national policies.
“But he’ll lose such acceptance of his foibles if he continues to act like a bull in a china shop, confusing his party and the public over the difference between the principles of independence and the policies that might be adopted by political parties in Holyrood, after independence.”
Ms MacDonald, who left the party in 2003, also criticised moves by Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to publicly brand her desire to hold talks with Westminster before the 2014 referendum as “negotiations”.
She said: “A discreet approach should have been made to the business managers of the parties opposed to the SNP, and agreement sought to examine together the situations that will require swift action, and those which can be resolved over a longer period.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman defended Mr Salmond’s approach to the independence debate, citing his outlining of a planned Scottish Constitution earlier this week as an example of that approach.
She said: “The Scottish Government is setting out the positive case for an independent Scotland, and as part of that the First Minister this week outlined some of the things that could be included in the written constitution of an independent country.”
kiandrews@thecourier.co.uk