Wikinews:Story preparation/Wikinews interviews: Alex Salmond, Scotland's First Minister

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Alex Salmond, leader of Scotland's Scottish National Party (SNP), and the country's First Minister agreed to answer a few questions from Wikinews.

He is member of the U.K. parliament for Banff and Buchanan, and holds the Scottish seat of Gordon. Minister Salmond leads a minority SNP administration which came to power in May 2007. From early days at St Andrews University he has been involved in the nationalist movement, joining the Federation of Student Nationalists in 1973, questioning whether the Labour Party would devolve power to a Scottish Assembly.

The interview

Our interview with the First Minister is divided into three sections. First off is the serious political material, followed by a grab-bag of questions on Scotland itself, where several of our international contributors have posed some serious, and some lighthearted, questions. Lastly we delve into the technology and "Web 2.0" issues on which the First Minister's opinions are of import.

Politics

The most obvious thing to grill you on is politics, these are likely questions you've been asked before and have semi-prepared answers for. We hope to see your answers here used to further expand your Wikipedia biography.

From your Wikipedia biography you apparently became political fairly early on. What was it that drew you to politics, and in particular the nationalist movement? Did your parents' background in the civil service influence this?

Alex Salmond:

WN Early on in your career you were working as an economist with the Royal Bank of Scotland. During this time you are credited with creating the "Royal Bank / BBC Oil Index". Do you have a take on the current upward-spiraling oil prices? Does this benefit anyone? Does it benefit Scotland?

AS:

WN You hail from the same area of Scotland as me, West Lothian; you were born in Linlithgow and attended Linlithgow Academy, whereas I went to Bathgate Academy some fifteen years later. Would you say that the quality of Scottish education is better now than twenty to thirty years ago? What have been the best and worst measures you have seen in management of Scottish education?

AS:

WN Speaking of West Lothian, is Tam Dalyell's West Lothian question still relevant today? Is full independence for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland the only solution? Or, as The Corries put it, is the solution English independence?

AS:

WN Would an independent Scotland force a rethink for Britain regarding Northern Ireland, and its possible re-integration with the Irish Republic?

AS:

WN In October 2007 you spoke to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. You said, "We have everything it takes for a Celtic Lion economy to take off in Scotland." This seems to be a reference to the Celtic Tiger economy of Ireland. Which, according to The Economist, turned them from "Poorest of the rich" to "Europe's shining light". Do you believe you can turn Scotland's economy into one similar to that of Ireland?

AS:

WN Do you believe that Scotland needs to be independent of the United Kingdom to achieve a Celtic Lion economy?

AS:

WN With an independent Scotland what would happen to the country's representation at the United Nations and within the European Union?

AS:

WN You've been in office for a year, and according to a report in the The Times last month, seventy percent of Scottish voters believe you have done a good job. Currently, you're a minority administration, holding 47 seats, one more than Scottish Labour. Do you believe that come the next election you can win a larger number of seats and possibly have a majority?

AS:

WN Having got this far, a political, but off-the-wall question. Is Jeremy Paxman as acerbic off camera as he is on Newsnight?

AS:

On Scotland

Our section of questions "On Scotland" is intended to be us speaking to Alex Salmond the man, not the politician.

WN What is your favourite place in Scotland? How would you like the tourist board, VisitScotland, to promote it?

AS:

WNWhat is your take on the Loch Ness Monster? Good for tourism?

AS:

WN Would you like to see an independent Scotland have a new national anthem, such as Flower of Scotland?

AS:

WN Rumour has it you are a Hearts supporter. Were you disappointed with their performance this year?

AS:

WN How has your view of the Scottish people changed from when you were an idealistic young socialist, and nationalist, to now, as First Minister?

AS:

WN In England they're called Chavs, in Scotland they are known as Neds, some even being into the third generation of never having worked. Do you see this as a serious social problem for Scotland?

AS:

WN Do you eat Haggis? Would you recommend others to, considering it is far more healthy than what you get from McDonalds?

AS:

Technology and Web 2.0

Technology plays an ever-increasing role in people's lives, and more and more people are getting online and able to access the wealth of information there. We posed a few questions on the First Minister's, and Scotland's, involvement in the Information Age.

WN According to a colleague, the Scottish Parliament has a page on the popular photo sharing site Flickr.com. Photos are uploaded under copyright terms that allows their free reuse. Should it be a government goal to return what taxpayers fund to a digital commons?

AS:

WN Do you refer to Wikipedia? Ever tempted to edit your own biography?

AS:

WN Going back to education, do you think serious efforts should be made to avoid costly information technology and use Free alternatives? For example, Linux instead of Windows on school computers?

AS:

WN The Gaelic Wikipedia has approximately 7,000 articles. You have said you want to see the language promoted. So, the question is, would using this resource and expanding it be a good move?

AS:

WN I recently covered the promotion of the two thousandth featured article on Wikipedia. This was created as part of a Canadian university course on South American literature. Professor Beasley-Murray, who managed the course, felt it was a valid and valuable academic endeavour. Should Scottish universities emulate projects such as this? The consensus from the involved students was it was more work, but more rewarding work.

AS:

WN Government information technology projects have a poor reputation for being delivered on-time and on-budget. Would you consider investigating Free alternatives from the open source movement, where a basic package is available and when you improve it you share your improvements? Use of such would pass work to smaller companies and contractors as opposed to the giants like Microsoft and EDS.

AS:

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