ALEX Salmond last night hit back at David Cameron after he was branded the “slipperiest of characters” by the former prime minister.
Cameron’s comments are from his forthcoming autobiography, For The Record, in which the former Tory leader says winning a No vote in the 2014 independence referendum provided him with “two of the happiest hours of my life”.
In response, Salmond said the criticism evidenced how “rattled” Cameron was by the Yes movement.
The former first minister said Cameron’s “comments about me seem rather mild compared to the venom he has reserved for his erstwhile Tory chums”.
He added: “The extract from his book shows how rattled David Cameron was in the final stages of the 2014 campaign, lying awake at night worrying about what the Queen would think of him if there was a Yes vote!
“In reality David wasn’t a great negotiator and the Scottish side achieved most of what we wanted from the Edinburgh Agreement of 2012, hence his petulance even now about the negotiations. Cameron’s response was to increasingly let George Osborne do his thinking for him.
“In the end Cameron squeaked through only by combining with the other Unionist parties and promising Scots near federal powers in ‘The Vow’; the same type of powers which he previously had refused to even countenance as a possibility.
“Inevitably, these promises were broken by Westminster, which is why five years on independence has become the majority position in Scotland.”
READ MORE: David Cameron says Tory Brexiteers left 'truth at home' in referendum
Reflecting on his trip to negotiate the ballot, Cameron writes in his book: “I went to Edinburgh for my first negotiation meeting with the slipperiest of characters, Alex Salmond, Scotland’s first minister, in February 2012.
“I always used to say you had to count your fingers on the way out of a meeting with him.”
Cameron had been at Balmoral for an audience with the Queen in the run-up to the referendum when a shock poll put Yes in the lead.
Days later, the Queen urged Scots to “think very carefully” about the vote, with Cameron saying he was “delighted” by her comments.
He said there was “panic” when the turnout in the referendum – which took place almost exactly five years ago on September 18, 2014 – was put at almost 85%, the highest in UK history.
He recalled: “After Clackmannanshire declared at 1.30am with a solitary majority for No, I went to bed but I didn’t sleep.
“The lead we were taking started closing overnight. But sure enough, after 4am the No votes kept rolling in. Two of the happiest hours of my life followed. Everything was going to be ok.”
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