John Swinney has suggested Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander could be “reshuffled out of existence” by next weekend.
The First Minister further escalated the war of words which has been ongoing between the two men on Saturday during a campaign visit in Glasgow.
The pair clashed this week over the decision by US President Donald Trump to scrap the 10% tariff on the Scotch whisky industry following a visit by the King.
Mr Alexander – who is also Scottish Labour’s election campaign co-chairman – said it was a “lie” to say the First Minister had put whisky on the agenda while Mr Swinney pointed the finger at the Scotland Office boss for a decline in the relationship between the two governments.
Speaking to the Press Association on Saturday, Mr Swinney said he had not spoken to the Scottish Secretary since the announcement and would wait until after the election.
“I saw him on Thursday night at a dinner and we had a really pleasant conversation,” the First Minister said.
“Then, later on that night, he was absolutely using language I think is unworthy of a Secretary of State for Scotland.
“I think we’ll maybe let the election campaign pass, let him relax a little bit, because he’s obviously a bit agitated, and we’ll see where things stand.
“He, of course, might be reshuffled out of existence by the weekend.”
The First Minister said it was a meeting he had with the US president last summer which put the issue on his radar, a claim which appeared to be confirmed following the release of a note from Mr Trump.
The correspondence offered the president’s “congratulations”, adding the First Minister was “a very big part of my thinking”.
Speaking to PA during a campaign stop in Glasgow, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “Honestly, this is not about individual politicians, the credit here goes to, largely, His Majesty the King, because he’s the one that got this over the line and got the deal done.”
Credit should also be given, Mr Sarwar said, to “Scotland’s businesses, Scotland’s producers and Scotland’s employees who are making a fantastic product that we’re able to sell right around the world”, but suggested the First Minister was “over-egging” his involvement.
“John Swinney might think it’s about him, other politicians might think it’s about them, I think it’s about great Scottish produce, great Scottish companies and great Scottish workers,” he added.
The Scottish Secretary told LBC the contention Mr Swinney had brought the issue of whisky tariffs to the president’s attention was a “lie”, adding the First Minister had been “caught red-handed” claiming credit for a deal that was secured by the King.
In a statement on Friday, a spokesperson for Mr Alexander said: “The First Minister is of course at liberty to visit other countries and promote Scottish exports, but for him to claim that ‘this issue got put on the agenda because I put it there’ is simply not true.
“The British Government was raising the whisky issue long before and long after his DC visit.”
Mr Swinney has said it was his meeting with the president at his golf course in July which put the issue on the agenda, rather than his later visit to the White House.
