The gesture was aimed at marking the outgoing FM’s proudest achievement in politics - restoring free higher education – and the stone carried his quote from 2011:
“The rocks will melt with the sun before I allow tuition fees to be imposed on Scottish students.”
One of the policies he was
chuffed about was the abolition of the Graduate Endowment fee – a £2k charge
levied on folk with degrees.
Political journalists queried the
cost of the Clashach sandstone structure - carved and designed by Historic
Scotland apprentices - only to be told it cost a paltry £80.
A better line
of enquiry might have been to ask why Heriot Watt was chosen to house the
Salmond stone.
Emails released
under FOI reveal how this Uni was the Scottish Government’s third choice, with
officials scrambling around for a venue.
The first
option was St Andrews, which is Salmond’s alma mater.
“Our idea is that on November 18, the FM will do a photo opp at a university, possibly St Andrews as it is the FM’s former uni, to mark no tuition fees,” a spin doctor wrote on October 16th.
Five days
later, the same press officer revealed that a Plan B was required.
“Our plans to do this at St Andrews have changed a little in that they may not be able to accommodate us....”
The reason,
according to the email, was that St Andrews had “a separate campaign at present
involving carved paving stones which they are looking to be sponsored”.
In other
words, please look elsewhere.
Those
with
long memories will recall there had been tension between St Andrews
University and the Government over claims pressure was put on the
institution on independence and higher education
policy.
Was this row
fresh in the University’s memory when the request to locate the Salmond
stone at St Andrews was made? Who knows...
After the St
Andrews hiccup, the same batch of emails reveals that the Government was “looking
to another university, most probably Strathclyde if they are amenable".
This never
materialised either and Heriot Watt was approached.
“I have left a rambling message for you and I apologise for its vagueness!” wrote the Government spinner to a colleague at HW."
The
University obliged and the rest is history, or at least a hastily arranged
photo-opp.
POSTSCRIPT
Another Government email explained that Heriot Watt was chosen "because the FM has been involved in events in the Middle East in support of their campus there".
POSTSCRIPT
Another Government email explained that Heriot Watt was chosen "because the FM has been involved in events in the Middle East in support of their campus there".
