In Salmond's Brian Taylor interview this weekend, he said something pretty revealing: that if the SNP got 20 seats in the next UK general election "we could make Westminster dance to a Scottish jig" (24:10 in this webcast).
Now, I'm sure that wasn't the message his determined phalanx of press officers sent him in with.
Is the First Minister not worried about the effect that comments like that might have on anti-Scottish sentiment down south (examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)? Does he even perhaps relish any increase in the desire from the English to "see the back of the Scots"?
I don't know. But imagine a hung Parliament where the SNP held some influence. If an English Tory MP in those circumstances complained that "The SNP are making Westminster dance to a Scottish jig" there'd be an SNP release slating this as another obvious example of anti-Scottish prejudice on the wires within ten minutes.
Update: apparently he did mean to say it, because he said it again in his address to conference. Silly me. However, I still think it's ill-judged.
Update: apparently he did mean to say it, because he said it again in his address to conference. Silly me. However, I still think it's ill-judged.
What's more, he also implied that STV no longer made programmes (same webcast, at 29:55). Perhaps he thinks Michael Crow either won't watch Brian's interview. I doubt that. Although STV are grown-up enough not to take offence, if I were an SNP press officer I'd nevertheless be dreading the next time I have to ring them.
You know what I was interested in about this interview (and I'm prepared to be corrected on this because I actually couldn't be bothered to watch it twice to verify this) but not a single question he was asked by Brian Taylor came from a woman.
Now before I am deafened by people sighing at this statement and muttering something about political-correctness-going-to-hell-in-a-handcart, seriously we are talking about half the country's population here.
I sent in a question about abortion, a fairly fundamental women's rights issue and one that Alex Salmond has strong/wrong views on, but it wasn't chosen. Granted, I may have been markedly inarticulate and political irrelevant in my question. Maybe I should have asked what his favourite curry was...