Salmond’s 5k bill for luxury limos

Thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been lavished on top-of-the-range limousines to ferry Alex Salmond around London.

The First Minister’s office spent more than £5,000 in just eight months with a London chauffeuring firm which boasts a fleet of high-end Mercedes, BMW and Jaguar cars.

Scottish Government officials yesterday refused to say what the limo journeys paid out of the public purse were for.

However, the transaction dates coincide with sporting events such as the Wimbledon final and Olympics which the SNP leader attended, as well as a string of meetings and lectures Mr Salmond has given in the capital.

The spending appears on copies of bills for the First Minister’s office which have been obtained by The Sunday Post.

The records also show more than £33,000 has been spent on hotels and subsistence for the First Minister since 2009, including £3,756 when Mr Salmond was in Chicago for the Ryder Cup last year and stayed in a five-star hotel.

Officials last night said it made “appropriate arrangements” for the First Minister’s travel when he is undertaking official Scottish Government business in London. But critics hit out at the spending.

Paul Martin, Scottish Labour’s business manager, said: “At a time when families are struggling to pay bills and put food on the table, the First Minister is throwing our money around like confetti. Whether it be spending half a million on a trip to the Ryder Cup or charging us for his tartan trews, no expense is spared.

“Alex Salmond should be setting an example by showing restraint on his trips away instead of charging us so he can arrive in style.”

The “travel and subsistence card” bills for Mr Salmond’s office were only released after The Sunday Post took the Scottish Government to the Scottish Information Commissioner. The records reveal £5,513 was spent with top London limo firm Kelly Kar Hire across six transactions between June 2012 and February this year. The bills show £810 was spent with the firm just four days after the 2012 Wimbledon final attended by Mr Salmond. A further £1,560 was paid to Kelly Kar at the end of August last year, a few weeks after the Olympics.

It is understood a £1,002 transaction in October last year covered the car hire for the First Minster’s appearance at a global energy leaders conference and a separate meeting of all UK political leaders in London.

The First Minister gave the Hugo Young lecture in London on January 22 this year and a transaction with Kelly Kar for the same day totalled £879.

Some of the purchases on the bills relate to transactions made on the specified date, while others are for settling invoices for services used in previous days or weeks.

Officials refused to release the names of the hotels stayed in by Mr Salmond for “security reasons” despite having published them for a similar request in July last year.

However, £3,756.32 was spent on accommodation on September 29, 2012, the day the First Minister was in Chicago for a controversial Ryder Cup trip and where he was reported to have stayed in the five-star Peninsula Hotel popular with celebrities such as actor Brad Pitt.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government makes appropriate arrangements for the First Minister’s travel when he is undertaking official Scottish Government business in London and that has required paying either the Government Car Service or a private hire company.”