Questions for Salmond over book cash firm

Alex Salmond was last night facing questions over a private company set up to handle the money he will make from his media and publishing work.

The former First Minister has declared a 100% stake in a two-month-old firm which owns the copyright to his referendum diaries.

The company, called The Chronicles of Deer, is also expected to receive any future fees from his columns in The Sunday Post’s sister titles The Courier and Press and Journal.

The move was last night questioned by his political rivals because Chronicles of Deer has been set up as an unlimited company. This means it is not required to lodge annual accounts at Companies House.

Any wages or share dividends paid to Mr Salmond, who hopes to become the MP for Gordon in next month’s General Election, from The Chronicles of Deer would still have to be registered with officials at either Holyrood or Westminster. However, as the firm’s only shareholder, Mr Salmond is able to determine the timing of any such payments.

Mr Salmond has fully complied with Holyrood’s register of interest rules and has pointed out The Chronicles of Deer has banked no income to date. He also told the Post he will voluntarily disclose any income paid into the firm within 30 days even though he is under no obligation to do so.

However, Scottish Labour’s business manager James Kelly, who is a qualified accountant, last night questioned the “unusual” arrangement.

He said: “Many Scots will be wondering why Alex Salmond feels the need to set up a private company.”

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie MSP said: “Why is Alex Salmond being so coy? Surely it would be best to declare what he has earned from his book sales and newspaper columns now.”

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, a solicitor and SNP candidate for the Ochil and South Perthshire seat, is listed as a director for the firm and is understood to have been involved in negotiations to secure Mr Salmond’s book deal.

In Mr Salmond’s MSP register of interests he reveals that since March 2 just two weeks before his The Dream Shall Never Die book was published he has owned a £1 shareholding, 100% of the issued share capital, in Chronicles of Deer. No cash has been paid into the company’s account from any source, according to the register.

Earlier this month Mr Salmond was cleared of any breach of Scottish Parliamentary rules on the issue by the Standards Commissioner.

Labour had queried why the former SNP leader had not declared earnings from his media work or any advance payments for his book. But the Standards Commissioner threw out the complaint after ruling “there is no evidence of sufficient substance warranting further investigation”.

Many politicians earn money from outside interests including books and regular newspaper columns. According to her entry in the register of interests, Alex Salmond’s close ally Joan McAlpine banks £400 a week for her column in a newspaper while deputy Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale’s words are worth £350.

A spokesman for the ex-SNP leader said he has “updated his entry in the register of interests according to the rules. He’s already been completely cleared by the Commissioner for Standards.

“Furthermore, he has already stated that he will make a voluntary declaration of all income received to the company from writing within the relevant timescale.

“The entry notes that as at the end of the financial year 2014/15, the company account had a zero balance.

“It is common practice for writers to establish companies to separate earnings from journalism and books from other income and the fact the company is unlimited reflects the case that it carries no risk of default and that Mr Salmond is willing to meet all company obligations.

“Clearly given Mr Salmond’s willingness, in the interests of transparency, to declare all company earnings within the relevant timescale, this goes far beyond the declarations that would be made in company accounts the following year making the claim of lack of disclosure simply absurd.”

The spokesman also pointed out that Mr Salmond has paid a significant proportion of his outside earnings, including £12,500 from a speaking engagement, to charity in recent months.