Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, has denied accusations that he used his influence as the Scottish Executives leader to sway the Finance Minister in to 'calling in' the Trump planning application.

The £1 billion golf course development, which would be located in Mr Salmond's own constituency of Gordon, was 'called in' to the executive in December after failing to receive planning permission through the normal channels.

The First Minister recently admitted having supported the scheme in the run-up to last year's election and under intense questioning from opposition MSPs concerned with the disparity of the weight carried by his office, Mr Salmond insisted everything he had done in relation to the development was as a constituency MSP, not as the head of the Scottish Government.


He further claimed he had not used his influence as a minister to sway the decision by John Swinney, the finance secretary, to call in the application.

"Anyone who knows John Swinney knows that he will carry out his responsibilities without fear or favour," Mr Salmond said.

However, Mr Salmond has since claimed that a recent Local Government Committee hearing vindicated his position and that of Cabinet Secretary John Swinney over the affair, rubbishing accusations of clandestine meetings with the billionaire Trump's top people.

Mr Salmond said: "What I had done at every meeting was tell people what I can and can't do."

Salmond added the meetings with Trump representatives were primarily to diminish concern about "reputational [sic] damage" if they appealed the decision of Aberdeenshire Council's infrastructure committee, as they did not want to be seen to be appealing 'over the heads' of the local council.

Many Scottish ministers now believe the application, which was rejected on the basis of conservation issues as a protected site, amongst others, is now set for a rubber stamp in the executive, and will be passed on a party political basis making a nonsense of the planning authority's autonomy.

Duncan McNeil, the Labour convener of the government committee, said there was now a perception that ministers would simply agree the Trump development as soon as possible, adding he would be "shocked" if ministers rejected the application. "I would be astonished to find the application has been rejected," he said.

(DW/JM)