Alex Salmond, noted for his sense of humour, will no doubt have allowed himself a wry smile after being chided by Labour MP Eric Joyce this week.
Joyce, responding to the Scottish First Ministers initiative in writing to world leaders to urge support for observer status at the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty conference, asserted:
"He has written to some very despotic and dangerous individuals, which we have very sensitive and complex relationships with, and treated vit like a weekly political football. It is potentially very damaging to our national security."
The old adage about 'glasshouses and stones' comes to mind as of course Eric Joyce is a member of a political party which on achieving office did nothing to halt the sale of arms, including Hawk Jet fighters, to one of the most despotic regimes in the world, Indonesia.
Indeed, during the course of this current Labour government support for despots is very much the order of the day. Most recently standards in public life reached an all time low when a corruption enquiry was frustrated to allow a massive arms contract with Saudi Arabia, one of the most despotic regimes in the Middle East, to go ahead.
Eric Joyce is of course no stranger to controversy often referring proudly to "having made an unorthodox exit from the army two years ago."
More tellingly however are the views of others on Joyce, not least his socialist colleague, former Labour deputy leader Roy Hattersley who is reputed to have dubbed Mr Joyce an "embarrassing sycophant" - Quite!
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
27/10/07
■