Questions over bill for Salmond's dinner

A LAVISH dinner held by the First Minister on the eve of beginning his first term in office is being investigated amid accusations it was a misuse of taxpayers’ money.

Famous faces such as Sir Sean Connery, Rangers chairman Sir David Murray, Kwik Fit founder Sir Tom Farmer, and Stagecoach tycoon Brian Souter attended the reception at Bute House the night before the official opening of the Scottish Parliament.

 

Wild Scottish Sea Bass was on the menu for Alex Salmond’s four-course dinner in June, billed to the public purse. Now the event is being probed by Audit Scotland amid claims it was not official government business, but a Nationalist function to woo influential Scots and the party’s most generous benefactors.

 

Many of the names of those who attended have not been released and have been protected under Freedom of Information laws, sparking accusations the dinner was “a party political occasion”.

 

In a letter to Lothians MSP Lord George Foulkes last week, Angela Cullen, the assistant director at Audit Scotland, revealed officials are investigating the £60-a-head reception.

 

She wrote: “We have asked the Scottish Government audit team to look into this on the Auditor General’s behalf.

 

“Our latest information is that the invoice has not been passed for payment and we are unsure at this stage if the Scottish Government will be paying for this.

 

“The audit team are keeping this under review and will report back when a decision has been made or the invoice has been paid.”

 

Mr Salmond and wife, Moira, staged the gathering at his official residence in Edinburgh on June 29 in honour of Sir Sean and his wife, Micheline, ahead of the celebrations for the opening of the third session at Holyrood.

 

Another 13 guests attended the dinner, while one other couple were invited but were unable to attend.

 

Lord Foulkes, who has applied for more detail on the evening under a series of Freedom of Information requests, has claimed the reception was an SNP function to reward influential individuals sympathetic to the party.

 

Sir Sean is a long-standing supporter of the Nationalists while in the run up to the Holyrood elections Brian Souter announced he was donating £500,000 to the party.

 

Sir Tom Farmer, who attended with his wife, Anne, also donated £100,000 ahead of the poll. However, other guests, such as Sir David Murray, have been openly critical of the First Minister and his party.

 

In a letter to Auditor General Robert Black last month, Lord Foulkes demanded an investigation into “the propriety of spending public money on what appears to be, on the basis of the publicly available evidence, a party political occasion”.

 

He also claimed it was “an occasion to treat senior SNP donors”. The Labour peer said yesterday: “The very fact the bill for this extravagant dinner has yet to be paid suggests even Alex Salmond can’t make his mind up if this was official devolved government business or not.

 

“With Salmond so reticent to release the full guest list, and so many prominent SNP donors in attendance, I can only assume that this was party political business – the SNP simply must settle the bill and stop playing fast and loose with taxpayers money.”

 

However, the First Minister is adamant the event was an official government engagement with senior aides accusing the Lothians MSP of “flogging a dead horse” over his repeated inquiries on the issue Famous faces such as Sir Sean Connery, Rangers chairman Sir David Murray, Kwik Fit founder Sir Tom Farmer, and Stagecoach tycoon Brian Souter attended the reception at Bute House the night before the official opening of the Scottish Parliament.

 

Wild Scottish Sea Bass was on the menu for Alex Salmond’s four-course dinner in June, billed to the public purse. Now the event is being probed by Audit Scotland amid claims it was not official government business, but a Nationalist function to woo influential Scots and the party’s most generous benefactors.

 

Many of the names of those who attended have not been released and have been protected under Freedom of Information laws, sparking accusations the dinner was “a party political occasion”.

 

In a letter to Lothians MSP Lord George Foulkes last week, Angela Cullen, the assistant director at Audit Scotland, revealed officials are investigating the £60-a-head reception.

 

She wrote: “We have asked the Scottish Government audit team to look into this on the Auditor General’s behalf.

 

“Our latest information is that the invoice has not been passed for payment and we are unsure at this stage if the Scottish Government will be paying for this.

 

“The audit team are keeping this under review and will report back when a decision has been made or the invoice has been paid.”

 

Mr Salmond and wife, Moira, staged the gathering at his official residence in Edinburgh on June 29 in honour of Sir Sean and his wife, Micheline, ahead of the celebrations for the opening of the third session at Holyrood.

 

Another 13 guests attended the dinner, while one other couple were invited but were unable to attend. Lord Foulkes, who has applied for more detail on the evening under a series of Freedom of Information requests, has claimed the reception was an SNP function to reward influential individuals sympathetic to the party.

 

Sir Sean is a long-standing supporter of the Nationalists while in the run up to the Holyrood elections Brian Souter announced he was donating £500,000 to the party.

 

Sir Tom Farmer, who attended with his wife, Anne, also donated £100,000 ahead of the poll. However, other guests, such as Sir David Murray, have been openly critical of the First Minister and his party.

 

In a letter to Auditor General Robert Black last month, Lord Foulkes demanded an investigation into “the propriety of spending public money on what appears to be, on the basis of the publicly available evidence, a party political occasion”.

 

He also claimed it was “an occasion to treat senior SNP donors”. The Labour peer said yesterday: “The very fact the bill for this extravagant dinner has yet to be paid suggests even Alex Salmond can’t make his mind up if this was official devolved government business or not.

 

“With Salmond so reticent to release the full guest list, and so many prominent SNP donors in attendance, I can only assume that this was party political business – the SNP simply must settle the bill and stop playing fast and loose with taxpayers money.”

 

However, the First Minister is adamant the event was an official government engagement with senior aides accusing the Lothians MSP of “flogging a dead horse” over his repeated inquiries on the issue.

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