Hard time for Alex Salmond at Glasgow Olympic celebrations

FIRST Minister Alex Salmond suffered a “George Osborne moment” at the victory parade when he was booed twice by the crowd in George Square.

Mr Salmond was among the dignitaries who welcomed and congratulated the Olympians as they were taken on stage to the adoring cheers of their fans.

However, when the politician’s name was announced, it was met with a loud “boo”.

Just five minutes later, the First Minister was invited on to the stage to address the crowd – and was once again met with a chorus of boos.

It is not the first time politicians have faced ridicule at an Olympic event. Chancellor George Osborne suffered a similar reception during the London Paralympics, when he was booed as he waited to hand out medals at the Olympic Stadium.

Despite his poor reception, Mr Salmond gave a short speech, in which he said that “London set the bar pretty high this year, Glasgow’s going to go over that bar at 2014”, which received a small cheer.

Mr Salmond’s treatment soon became the talk of Twitter, with one user writing: “Maybe Alex Salmond should stop appearing at every media event in Scotland. Too much glory bathing causes booing. Give the smile a rest Eck.”