Alex Salmond comes off the ropes fighting with poll challenge to rivals

Published on Friday 11 December 2009 21:42

ALEX Salmond tried to kick-start his government yesterday as he defiantly challenged his political opponents to take him on in an election.

• Alex Salmond looks morose as he faces journalists gathered at Bute House in Edinburgh yesterday. Picture: Greg Macvean

In a presidential style end-of-term news conference the First Minister tried to come off the ropes fighting on the day his government was battered by opponents for tearing up two major education policies – class sizes of 18 and free school meals for P1 to P3 children.

Mr Salmond said he was happy to face the electorate at any time and he was confident of defending his government's record.

"The Scottish National Party wouldn't fear an election in Scotland and would be very happy and content to put our record before the people," he said.

"If the other parties want to force an election, then, through the standing orders of the parliament, they have the ability to do so."

And he said the SNP always "had a fighting chance" of victory.

But opponents, who were buoyed by the sacking of Fiona Hyslop as education secretary last week, accused Mr Salmond of being "all mouth and no bite".

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said: "Alex Salmond's bluff was called last week when he stabbed Fiona Hyslop in the back to save his skin rather than resign and face an election.

"He has form, as he ran away when Wendy Alexander challenged him to 'bring it on' over a referendum last year.

"These are Alex Salmond's usual empty words, as he knows the SNP are on the back foot, failing to deliver on any of their policies, behind in the polls and recently hammered in the Glasgow North East by-election."

Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie said: "Instead of explaining how he would deal with the 200 million raid on our budget through Labour's tax on jobs stripping money out of our public services, all he does is revert to soundbite and no substance.

"Rather than worry about a Scottish election, we know he fears the British general election, where he is an irrelevance."

The dropping of the education policies was the culmination of a series of setbacks for Mr Salmond in the past few weeks.

Recent polls had his party trailing in both Westminster and Holyrood voting intentions and had support for independence as low as 20 per cent.

Analysis of the Scottish data from the last two YouGov polls has shown Labour 11.5 points ahead of the SNP, with the Nationalists gaining only one seat from their Westminster total, leaving them 13 short of Mr Salmond's 20-seat target.

Opposition parties have also made it clear that his two biggest pieces of legislation next year, on an independence referendum and the introduction of minimum pricing for booze, will both fail. His government's biggest building project – the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow – has been beset by delays.

Even his Christmas card, featuring a girl with a saltire and "a new journey" message, drew scorn for "politicising" the festive season.

Yesterday, a restrained Mr Salmond took questions on a variety of issues, having announced that he would personally attend the climate change summit in Copenhagen.

Mr Salmond said he would repeat threats to resign if there were further attempts to hold votes of no confidence in any of his cabinet.

He said he would be happy with the progress on class sizes if one in five P1 to P3 children was in a class of 18 or fewer by August 2010.

He said: "Everyone in Scotland is well aware that the world has changed substantially since we signed the concordat with local government two years ago.

"We have now 800m less in terms of available public spending in the next financial year.

"One-third of that applies to local government."

He added: "I think the parents and teachers and others in Scotland will respect the efforts that the government and, I hope, Cosla, will make in order to bring as many as possible class sizes in primary 1-3 down to 18 or less."

He then claimed critics had misunderstood his party's commitment to free school meals, claiming the target of 40,000 extra children had been met. Mr Salmond said it had not been the intention to provide all children in that age group with free meals.

And he reminded journalists that absconds from Scottish prisons are a quarter of the level they were under the last Labour/Lib Dem Scottish Executive and one-sixth of the number from when the Tories lost power in 1997.