John Swinney should spend more time on domestic issues than seeking a deal with the US on Scotch whisky, the Scottish Secretary has said.
The First Minister has pushed hard for an exemption to tariffs imposed by the US administration of Donald Trump, meeting the president four times this year.
The levies are said to be costing the industry around £4 million per week.
But the First Minister’s efforts have been met with derision from Westminster, which holds the powers over international trade.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Friday ahead of a meeting with US Ambassador Warren Stephens in Edinburgh, Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said: “I’m very happy for the First Minister to be supporting the British Government’s efforts on tariffs, but that’s all that he’s doing.”
Mr Alexander suggested the First Minister should turn his attention to Scottish matters, describing Mr Swinney’s meeting with Mr Trump in the White House – which was facilitated by former ambassador Peter Mandelson before his sacking – as a “day trip”.
He said: “Respectfully, many of us here in Scotland wish the First Minister was spending more time avoiding the underspend of £1 billion as we discovered last night, or the state of our schools and hospitals.
“But there’s a second point beyond the legal requirement that this is a competence of the UK Government – Donald Trump doesn’t give gifts, he does deals.
“The only counter-party in those negotiations that can do a deal is the UK Government.”
Mr Alexander added of Mr Swinney: “He’s perfectly entitled to get his picture taken with the president, like anyone else who makes the day trip to Washington.”
Asked if it is offensive to describe Mr Swinney’s talks as simply a “photo call”, the Scottish Secretary said: “I think what’s offensive is the suggestion that somehow uniquely the First Minister put whisky on the agenda.”
During a visit to Scotland this summer, Mr Trump credited the First Minister with informing him of issues with the tariffs on whisky.
Mr Alexander continued: “The fact is, we want the First Minister of Scotland to support the efforts of the British Government, but it’s important to be clear and direct with people whose jobs are on the line and the industry that so requires these cuts to happen that actually these negotiations that matter are the negotiations that will happen in the coming days and the coming weeks.
“As I say, we will have British negotiators on the ground in Washington in the coming days, if the First Minister is supportive of those efforts, I actively welcome that, because what matters most is that we get those tariffs cut and we get support for the Scotch whisky industry as we did in India and as we hope to do in the coming days in the United States.”
The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
