Trimble's 'Artful Dodger' jibe twists the knife into Salmond

FORMER Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble has branded Alex Salmond "the Artful Dodger of politics", and claimed Scottish voters frustrated with Labour had "bounced the wrong way" when they backed the SNP at the last Holyrood elections.

In an exclusive interview with the Evening News, the former Ulster Unionist leader – now a Conservative peer – also said a working relationship with London was essential to making a success of devolution.

And he dismissed calls for Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs to be banned from voting on English issues at Westminster.

Lord Trimble was in Edinburgh to speak at a series of Tory party functions and visit Holyrood, and he

insisted the Nationalists had no long-term answers to Scotland's socio-economic problems.

He said: "Alex is the Artful Dodger of politics and he will have a charmed existence for some time, but he can't actually deliver a solution to the real problems.

"When Scottish people come to make a judgement, they will not be judging the different atmosphere created by the shift in political balance, they will be looking to see what has been the concrete achievement."

And he said Mr Salmond had been unable to influence the financial crisis.

"Scottish society had a huge emotional and political investment in the big Scottish banks and the collapse was a traumatic event – and, for that, Alex Salmond was a bystander.

"That one thing underlines a basic message – at the end of the day, the Scottish Parliament is a devolved structure operating within the fiscal and financial framework provided by the UK.

"That was something we were very conscious of in Northern Ireland. We didn't have any illusions about our position. We knew if we wanted to succeed we had to develop a working relationship with that government."

Lord Trimble claimed decades of Labour dominance had failed Scotland and claimed what was needed was "a right-of-centre administration".

He said: "I can understand people being frustrated with Labour, but they have bounced to the wrong alternative.

"The only centre-right party in Scotland, the party that can deliver a difference in terms of socio-economic issues, is the Conservative Party.

"It might take more than one election before the people of Scotland realise this. And going through and exhausting the SNP alternative is probably a necessary rite of passage."

Lord Trimble said he was confident the Tories would win the next UK election – and make gains in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

On suggestions that only English MPs should vote on English matters, he said: "There is only one sovereign parliament in the UK, end of story. Power devolved is power retained.

"If you start trying to restructure the sovereign parliament because of devolution you are actually doing huge damage."