Alex Salmond is facing fresh demands to cancel his show on the Russian propaganda channel RT amid calls for the Kremlin-funded broadcaster to be banned in the UK.
The former First Minister, who has hosted a weekly show on the network since 2017, was warned that he was acting as a “useful idiot” to Vladimir Putin and that his presence on the network was damaging Scotland’s reputation.
Mr Salmond’s Alba Party on Tuesday issued a condemnation of Russia’s move to send troops into two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine, but called for “Russia’s own security interests” to also be considered in coming to a peaceful solution.
Last week, the party attacked the UK and US for “hyping” a possible conflict and claimed there was a lack of evidence to justify warnings of Russian aggression.
Calls grow louder for RT ban
Sir Keir Starmer led calls on Tuesday for RT, which is regulated by Ofcom and broadcasts 24 hours a day in the UK, to be “prevented from broadcasting its propaganda”.
The Labour leader was backed up by Stewart McDonald, the defence spokesman for the SNP, the party that Mr Salmond previously led for two decades.
Mr McDonald said that Russia’s “disinformation networks” were critical in justifying and maintaining Russian aggression and said it was “time they went”.
On Tuesday morning, the page for Mr Salmond’s show on the RT website included links to articles describing the Russian president’s incursion into Donetsk and Luhansk as an attempt to “secure the peace” and showing the “delight” of local people.
‘International embarrassment’
Donald Cameron, the external affairs spokesman for the Scottish Tories, said: “It’s an international embarrassment that a former first minister of Scotland has continued to take a paycheque from what is effectively an extension of the Kremlin, amid these escalating tensions.
“Ukraine is on the edge of war with an aggressive Russia, yet Alex Salmond sees no ethical conflict in being hand and glove with a major propaganda outlet for Putin’s invading regime.
“As if we needed any more proof, Alex Salmond has once again demonstrated a complete lack of credibility and moral fitness by continuing with this grubby deal.”
Mr Salmond has regularly defended his links to RT by claiming he is free to address whichever topics he likes on his show.
He faced repeated questioning over the issue during his unsuccessful bid to win a Holyrood seat last year, and repeatedly refused to say whether he believed Russia was behind the Salisbury poisonings.
Ofcom to examine complaints over Ukraine coverage
Ofcom, the media regulator, said that it will examine complaints about RT’s coverage of the Ukraine crisis “as a priority”, following the calls in the Commons.
In 2019, the broadcaster was fined £200,000 by the regulator for failing to follow impartiality rules in 2018, largely over reports regarding the Salisbury poisonings and Syrian conflict.
An Ofcom spokesman said: “Given the seriousness of the Ukraine crisis, we will examine complaints about any broadcaster’s coverage of these events as a priority.”
