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Alex Salmond Rupert Murdoch Snp

Could Rupert Murdoch be planning to back the case for Scottish independence?

By Hamish Mackay

February 21, 2012 | 3 min read

Tweets by media mogul Rupert Murdoch are being interpreted as him lending his backing to the move for Scottish independence.

BBC Scotland reports that the chairman of News Corporation yesterday tweeted the message: "Let Scotland go and compete. Everyone would win."

It follows a message on Sunday in which Murdoch described Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond as clearly the "most brilliant politician in the UK". The tweet added: “Gave Cameron the back of his hand this week. Loved by the Scots”.

The Scottish Sun, which is Scotland's best-selling daily newspaper, backed the Scottish National Party at last year's Scottish Parliament elections but it has stopped short of backing the case for independence.

The Scottish edition of The Sun is believed to be allowed to take its own political stance although Murdoch is known to take a keen interest in the editorial policy of his newspapers which include The Times and the Sunday Times.

Murdoch is currently in London overseeing the launch of a Sunday edition of The Sun this weekend.

The Scottish edition of the new tabloid is expected to have its own identity - distinguishing it from the English edition produced in London.

BBC Scotland quoted a spokesman for Salmond as saying: "Many people at home and abroad are expressing views on Scotland's future, and all contributions are welcome, including Mr Murdoch's.

"We believe that independence will be good for Scotland and good for England - a new relationship of equality between our two nations, with the Queen as our shared head of state."

However, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie, MSP, is quoted as saying: "After Rupert Murdoch's crisis at News Corporation, it's the endorsement that every politician dreads.

"We need more than eight words from a troubled media tycoon to convince us that we should separate from the UK family."

Rupert Murdoch’s father, Sir Keith Murdoch, was born in Melbourne in 1885, the son of Annie (née Brown) and the Rev. Patrick John Murdoch, who had married in 1882 and migrated from Cruden Bay in Scotland to Victoria, Australia with Patrick's family in 1884.

Alex Salmond Rupert Murdoch Snp

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