The Telegraph is running a piece about Alex Salmond being a “bully behind the mask”, because of the way he treated a junior reporter asking him tricky questions about what the currency situation would be for an independent Scotland.
At a press conference, Scotland’s First Minister announced in front of the press pack that he had promised to give 27-year-old Ben Riley-Smith, a Scottish political reporter at the Telegraph, some sweets. He handed him some Liquorice Allsorts, to which Riley-Smith reacted by saying, “and you don’t think it’s condescending at all to give sweets to a junior reporter?”, and handing the sweets back.
But that wasn’t the end of Salmond’s patronising stunt. Here’s an extract from the article about what happened next:
After the question and answer session ended, Salmond again presented Riley-Smith with the sweets and said: “[Got] a wee fancy for Jelly Babies, son?, to which Riley- Smith said: “It just seems a bit patronising First Minister, doesn’t it?”
First Minister: “That’s OK, I’m perfectly happy to patronise you, Ben. [Laughs.] There’s no harm meant.”
Riley-Smith handed back the pack of sweets: “I just think it’s a bit patronising, given I’m just trying to be professional.”
First Minister: “You mustn’t get irritable.”
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