SNP claims vote clash victory

FIRST Minister Alex Salmond has accused the UK government of effectively admitting its plan to stage a referendum on the same day as next year's Scottish Parliament elections was a bad move.

Mr Salmond made the claim after he received a letter from Scottish Secretary Michael Moore saying he wanted to "engage" with the SNP administration over its concerns about the general election date clash in 2015.

Mr Salmond claimed Mr Moore's admission showed he had "conceded" that a referendum on the Alternative Vote (AV) system should not be held on the same day as the Holyrood elections on 5 May next year.