SCOTLAND’S reputation has been damaged by Alex Salmond’s decision to host a chat show on a “Kremlin-backed propaganda” channel, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader has claimed.
Willie Rennie said Russia Today – which is broadcasting the former First Minister’s new programme – “seeks to undermine Western democracy and ignore human rights abuses at home”.
Mr Salmond’s show screened for the first time yesterday morning, and will run weekly on the Russian network.
But it was under growing pressure last night to explain a series of mystery social media posts which were read out at the start of the programme.
The former First Minister claimed he had received “an avalanche” of tweets from the public, but four of those highlighted raised eyebrows because of the ongoing row over fake news.
One was from an account that didn’t exist, one was from an account that had never tweeted, one was a tweet that hadn’t yet been posted, and one was from a director at RT.
The show, over which Mr Salmond has full editorial control, said all the tweets involved are genuine, but failed to supply proof.
A spokesman said: "We have screenshots which establish the genuine nature of the tweets.”
Mr Rennie said small countries bordering Russia would be “deeply concerned” by Mr Salmond’s decision to host a show on RT.
He told First Minister’s Questions: “The Estonian ambassador told this very parliament this morning that Russia Today is Kremlin-backed propaganda.
“So it should turn our stomach to know that a former First Minister of this country is giving it credibility and legitimacy by launching this show.”
Estonian diplomat Tiina Intelmann had earlier told a Holyrood committee: “We have a view about Russia Today as an arm of Kremlin propaganda – that’s exactly what it is”
Mr Rennie also questioned whether Mr Salmond was a “fit and proper person to own Scotland’s oldest national newspaper” on the back of the move.
The former First Minister is currently part of a takeover bid at Johnson Press, owners of The Scotsman newspaper.
Responding, deputy first minister John Swinney said the whole debate had been struck by a “stinking reek of hypocrisy”, pointing to Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable’s decision to appear on RT in 2015.
He said Mr Salmond was “not currently an elected politician” and defended the “plurality of choice” of guests on the programme so far.
Mr Salmond’s first show caused controversy by denouncing the Spanish government for using police brutality and jailing pro-independence politicians in Catalonia, despite Russia doing the same thing.
The half-hour Alex Salmond Show included interviews with Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy, Tory MP Crispin Blunt and Catalan president-in-exile Carles Puigdemont.
The topics covered included the sexism scandal at Westminster, gay rights in Scotland and the international stage, and Catalonian independence.
RT, which is widely seen as a mouthpiece of president Vladimir Putin, is forced to register in the US as an arm of the Russian state.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw MSP said it was “utterly shameful” for “a former First Minister to be reduced to a pawn in Russia’s propaganda war”.
He said: “The former First Minister devoted a large part of his programme to bolstering the case for the break-up of Spain, one of NATO’s leading players, while saying nothing about state brutality in Russia.
“The Russian regime will be delighted with their investment in Mr Salmond already.
“It also appears that online reaction to Mr Salmond may even have come from Russia’s ‘fake news’ unit.”
Of the four tweets causing controversy, one appeared to have been read out on the show three and a half hours before it was even posted.
Another was from the private account of Luisa St John, a director at RT who was named on the credits of Mr Salmond’s show as the “Series Director”.
Christen Ager-Hanssen, the Norwegian venture capitalist who is one of those driving the Johnson Press takeover bid, said Mr Salmond’s show was a “huge opportunity” for the former First Minister to reach a large audience.
He added: “I have strong belief in Alex and his values.” He previously said the RT show would have no impact on the Johnson Press plans.
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