Salmond dismisses Russell axe calls

Nov 15 2012

First Minister Alex Salmond has dismissed Labour calls to sack his under-fire Education Secretary.

Labour leader Johann Lamont claimed that Mike Russell had misled the Scottish Parliament over college funding and should be fired as a result.

She issued the demand a day after the Education Secretary came under attack in Holyrood for his involvement in a row over a secretly-taped meeting which led to the resignation of a college chairman.

As Kirk Ramsay stood down as the chairman of Glasgow's Stow College, he likened the situation to "summary justice".

Now, Ms Lamont has claimed Mr Russell had told MSPs in June that there was no reduction in college funding, but had then told Holyrood he had never made such a remark.

She hit out: "The reality is colleges' budgets are being slashed. It is no longer a question of if Mike Russell misled Parliament, the question is when. And isn't misleading Parliament the kind of offence which should cost a minister his job?"

The Labour leader continued her attack and said: "This week we found out that Mike Russell told a college chair he should resign because he no longer had any trust in him. No-one can have any trust in Mike Russell after this week.

"This week we found out Mike Russell told a college chair he would sack him if he had the power. But Mike Russell has misled this Parliament and the First Minister has the power to sack him." She demanded of the First Minister: "Why won't he sack a minister who is denying our young people an opportunity to go to college and, when challenged about, it misleads this Parliament?"

Mr Salmond insisted resource funding for colleges was £545 million in 2011-12 and £546 million in 2012-13. He hit out at Ms Lamont, saying he had been "rather expecting" her questions after Labour adviser Paul Sinclair had tweeted a call for Mr Russell to resign.

Ms Lamont hit back at Mr Salmond's response. "The idea that a juvenile trawl through the tweets of this world is any kind of response is a complete disgrace," she blasted. The Labour leader made the calls for the Education Secretary to be sacked at First Minster's Questions in the Scottish Parliament.