Salmond 'smelt a rat' over Holyrood

Former SNP leader Alex Salmond appeared before the inquiry

Former Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond said he felt "suspicious and let down" when Holyrood emerged as a late contender for the Scottish Parliament site.

Mr Salmond told the Fraser Inquiry that he "smelt a rat" when the then Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar phoned him to say that "an unprecedented opportunity" had presented itself.

The inquiry, led by Tory peer Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, is hearing evidence as to how the project cost has risen from £40m to £401m.

Mr Salmond said that until the phone call in December 1997 he had believed that Calton Hill was the favoured location for the new parliament building.

Quite nervous

His party had prepared a report concluding that a parliamentary quarter "equal to any in Europe" could have been built on Calton Hill using government-owned buildings.

He left his only consultative meeting with Mr Dewar on 24 October, 1997 believing that the site would emerge victorious, after the Scottish secretary appeared to discount the Leith and Haymarket options.

Mr Dewar made a phone call to Mr Salmond on 7 December.

"Donald was quite nervous, which was not his normal demeanour," Mr Salmond said.

Scottish & Newcastle brewery had offered their site at Holyrood and Mr Dewar thought that it needed to be considered.

When the parliament were told they were inheriting a £109m cost, it was well over £200m and totally out of control Alex Salmond

Mr Salmond said that he "smelt a rat" and told Mr Dewar that the process of introducing Holyrood was "improper".

He insisted that Holyrood should be subject to the same scrutiny as the other three sites.

The former SNP leader said he had enjoyed a close working relationship with Mr Dewar.

"It was a fruitful, constructive period and I did not want it to end unduly quickly. But I was suspicious and let down."

An article in The Herald newspaper in January 1998 compounded Mr Salmond's disappointment.

Out of control

It quoted Labour insiders who said that the decision to choose the Holyrood site had been made and that Mr Dewar had never wanted the Calton Hill site because it was a "Nationalist Shibboleth".

The phrase refers to a Biblical tale in which outsiders can be identified and excluded by use of a linguistic password.

Mr Salmond said he did not know if the views expressed in the article were those of Mr Dewar, but "Donald was one of the few people who would use a word like shibboleth".

Two days later the Holyrood site was confirmed as the choice for the parliament.

Mr Dewar did not favour the Calton Hill site

The former SNP leader felt it shattered the spirit of consensus which had emerged during the devolution referendum.

By the time the Holyrood building project was handed over to MSPs in June 1999 it was "totally out of control", Mr Salmond said.

And he told the inquiry that problems with the project were concealed from parliament and the public.

"There was a 'misrepresentation' of the costs of Calton Hill against Holyrood," Mr Salmond said.

"Secondly, and more seriously, when the parliament were told they were inheriting a £109m cost, it was well over £200m and totally out of control".