Salmond in call to Rupert Murdoch

Feb 21 2012

The First Minister has spoken with Rupert Murdoch after the media mogul apparently expressed support for Scottish independence on Twitter.

Mr Murdoch, head of News Corporation, tweeted on Monday: "Let Scotland go and compete. Everyone would win."

A spokesman for the First Minister said Alex Salmond called Mr Murdoch to discuss his new newspaper, The Sun on Sunday, and said they also talked about the tweet.

Mr Salmond said: "It was an interesting eight words: a textbook example of how to deploy a tweet and cause a great stir. We are in a debate in Scotland and internationally about Scotland's future, and I welcome all contributions to the debate, including Mr Murdoch's."

The tycoon's words followed a tweet on Sunday in which he said: "Alex Salmond clearly most brilliant politician in UK Gave Cameron back of his hand this week. Loved by Scots."

Mr Murdoch's News Corporation is the parent company of News International which runs The Sun and The Times newspapers. The Sun switched from opposition to the SNP before the 2007 election to support for the party at the election last May.

The spokesman for Mr Salmond said the editorial stances of News International newspapers were not discussed in the phonecall.

Last August the Scottish Government published letters between Mr Salmond and Mr Murdoch, which show attempts to bring Mr Murdoch to Scotland as the guest of honour at the Gathering, a cultural celebration intended as the centrepiece of the Year of Homecoming.

The First Minister suggested it would be a great spectacle for coverage by Sky television. An invitation was also extended to Mr Murdoch for him to join Mr Salmond at a golf event in Kentucky in the US.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP said: "I think we need to know whether Alex Salmond put the difficult questions to Rupert Murdoch. Did they cover the Leveson Inquiry, phone hacking and Murdoch's oversight of The Sun and the News of the World? The First Minister has responsibility to serve the wishes of the country first, rather than the narrow interests of his party."