Salmond pressured Irish head of St Andrews to drop warnings over Yes vote

Scottish first minister Alex Salmond tried to force the Waterford-born head of one of Scotland’s oldest universities to withdraw warnings that independence could hit research funding.

In March, Professor Louise Richardson, head of St Andrew's University, gave an interview to the London Times which deeply angered Mr Salmond.

In it, she said: “If we were cut off from national research councils it would be catastrophic for this institution . . . We would lose our top academics, we would fail to attract serious academics [from other countries].”

Her interview prompted Mr Salmond’s chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, to press for a clarification which Ms Richardson refused to issue.

Heated conversation

However, it also prompted a heated 10-minute telephone conversation – separately confirmed by

The Irish Times

– between Mr Salmond and Ms Richardson.

Ms Richardson, an internationally-recognised academic, has not sought to attract publicity for the confrontation, though it is known that she was deeply angered by it.

In an effort to maintain peace between St Andrews and the Scottish government, she eventually agreed to publish a one-line statement saying that she acknowledged Mr Salmond’s government was “working hard to resolve this issue” of research funding.

The disclosure of the clash comes in the wake of a series of increasingly unpleasant scenes of street barracking by Yes supporters of the No campaign.

Labour leader Ed Miliband yesterday was forced to abandon a Glasgow street event, following the arrival within minutes of Yes supporters, some of whom issued foul-mouthed taunts.

Mr Miliband accused the pro-independence campaign of “ugly” tactics after campaigners hurled abuse at him in chaotic scenes during a visit to Edinburgh.