SCOTLAND'S First Minister Alex Salmond today called a radio show to address criticism of remarks he made about Margaret Thatcher's economic policies.
Labour said Mr Salmond should apologise and "hang his head in shame" for saying Scots
did not mind Lady Thatcher's economic policies as much as her social policies.
But the First Minister today dismissed the criticism as "total tosh" and "typical Labour humbug".
The row followed an interview in Total Politics magazine in which he said the SNP had a strong social conscience, which was a key Scottish attribute.
"One of the reasons Scotland didn't take to Lady Thatcher was because of that," he told the magazine.
"We didn't mind the economic side so much. But we didn't like the social side at all."
And referring to the most famous work of economist Adam Smith, he said: "Margaret Thatcher could have only ever read the Penguin edition of Wealth of Nations and she missed out the moral sentiments."
Mr Salmond today called in to a BBC Radio Scotland programme, Morning Extra with Graham Stewart, to defend his comments.
He said he would never follow Gordon Brown's example of inviting Margaret Thatcher round for tea.
He told listeners: "I'm well on the record as never having approved of either Margaret Thatcher's social or economic policies – that's clear if you look at the interview."
And in a statement later, he said: "I was commenting on why Scots in particular were so deeply resentful of Margaret Thatcher, and I strongly believe that her social message of 'no such thing as society' and the poll tax cut against the grain of Scotland's social conscience.
"That doesn't mean that the nation liked her economic policies – just that we liked her social policies even less.
"I have never approved of either Margaret Thatcher's economic or social policies, as is clear from the very next passage of the full interview, where I say that if Scottish economic founder Adam Smith could sue for the misuse of his thoughts by Thatcherites, they would be in real trouble."
The full article contains 351 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
