Salmond slammed over Alexander ‘allegations’
Internal politics claim by First Minister
Published:
A LABOUR party boss today accused Alex Salmond of making an “unsubstantiated allegation” about Wendy Alexander’s resignation.
North-east Labour MSP Richard Baker, the party’s chief whip at Holyrood, made the remarks after the First Minister said Ms Alexander had been a victim of internal politics in her own party.
Ms Alexander resigned as Labour leader after Holyrood’s SNP-dominated standards committee ruled she should be suspended from the parliament for one day for failing to declare donations.
But Mr Salmond rejected Wendy Alexander’s claim that a politically-partisan decision over donations prompted her decision to quit as Scottish Labour leader.
Mr Salmond said: “If Wendy Alexander was a victim at all, she was a victim of machinations from within the Labour Party.”
Mr Baker, who is in charge of Labour Party discipline at Holyrood, said: “The First Minister is making an unsubstantiated allegation here. It was an SNP-dominated committee at Holyrood which took the decision to suspend her and the initial complaint was made by an SNP activist.”
Mr Salmond had claimed details of the donations had been given to the press by somebody in Ms Alexander’s “inner circle”.
He added: “This is information sourced from directly within the Labour Party.”
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