ALEX Salmond has launched a furious attack on Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar, accusing him of acting “like a wee boy”.
It comes after the Labour MSP tried to deflect from criticism of Keir Starmer’s praise for former Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher by pointing to historic comments from Salmond.
Starmer, in an article for the Telegraph on Sunday, said Thatcher brought “meaningful change” to the UK by seeking to “drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism”.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Sarwar attacked Thatcher but defended his party leader.
He said: “I would remind opposition parties that it was Alex Salmond who said Scotland didn't have a problem with Thatcher's economic policies.
"Where were Humza Yousaf and Stephen Flynn then? Staying quiet."
In 2008 – before either Yousaf or Flynn entered elected politics – Salmond had said: "The SNP has a strong social conscience, which is very Scottish in itself. One of the reasons Scotland didn't take to Lady Thatcher was because of that.
“We didn't mind the economic side so much, but we didn't like the social side at all."
In a statement issued in response to Sarwar’s comments, Alba said the Labour MSP had been “misquoting” Salmond.
The former first minister and Alba leader said: “Anas sounds like a wee boy trying to pin the blame on someone else for Starmer’s blunder.
“What I actually said way back in 2008 is that Scots couldn’t stomach the social policies of Thatcherism more than the economic ones. I know this because I was fighting the poll tax when Anas was in short trousers.
“To equate that interview with this week’s Starmer calculated Telegraph love-in with Thatcherite policies is both desperate and ridiculous.
“If Anas aspires to ever run more than the branch office and achieve anything at all in politics then he will have to learn to grow up. Right now I don’t think he is going to make it.”
