Alex Salmond claims Observer newspaper accessed his bank account

First Minister Alex Salmond has told the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics that the Observer newspaper accessed his bank account.

Mr Salmond made the charges during his evidence to Lord Leveson on Wednesday.

He said a former journalist at the London broadsheet had told him details of his bank account that could not have been known without accessing it.

Mr Salmond said the newspaper's interested had been piqued by his purchases from a shop called Fun and Games which he believes the Observer mistook for an adult retailer but which was in fact a children's toy shop. However, Mr Salmond confirmed his phone was not hacked.

In response to Mr Salmond's comments, Guardian News and Media, publisher of the Observer, said it had previously investigated the allegation and found no evidence that it had happened.

A spokesperson said: "Mr Salmond first raised the matter of an alleged unauthorised access of his bank account with the Observer's editor last year. The allegation was that a journalist working for the Observer had accessed his bank details in 1999. As we explained to him last year, on the basis of the information he had given us, we have been unable to find any evidence to substantiate his allegation. As our response to him at the time made clear, we take this allegation very seriously and if he is able to provide us with any more information we will investigate further."

Under questioning from Robert Jay QC, Mr Salmond said he had met Rupert Murdoch five times in the last five years. He confirmed he met James Murdoch for lunch in January 2011 to discuss impact of News International's bid for BSkyB on the Scottish economy and concerns about outsourcing of BSkyB jobs. Mr Salmond told the inquiry 36% of BSkyB jobs were based in Scotland.

Emails given to the Leveson Inquiry by James Murdoch, former chairman and chief executive of News Corp, showed one of Mr Salmond’s advisers had given an assurance that the First Minister “will call Hunt whenever we need him to”. At the time, Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, was responsible for deciding whether News Corp should be allowed to complete a full takeover of BSkyB.

The First Minister said he was willing to make representations to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport that jobs and investment should be kept in mind when any decision was made about the BSkyB bid. He confirmed he told James Murdoch he would be willing to talk to the Secretary of State on the matter. In the event, he did not make such representations.

He told Mr Jay: "I was in favour of what benefited the Scottish economy. Remember I have no responsibility for broadcasting policy, I have no responsibility for plurality in the press but I do have a responsibility for jobs and investment in Scotland. I would tend to put an emphasis on the jobs and investment aspects of this. It was for others to consider other matters."

Mr Salmond said the ministerial code required him to make efforts on behalf of the Scottish interest in relation to jobs and the economy. He was questioned about an email from Frédéric Michel to James Murdoch following a meeting between Mr Michel and Mr Salmond's special adviser Geoff Aberdein. In the email, Mr Michel reported the outcome of the meeting to Mr Murdoch as being that the First Minister "will call Hunt whenever we need him to".

The First Minister said an investigation into Mr Aberdein's contact with Mr Michel, the full ruling of which would be published on Thursday, had "completely exonerated" the special adviser. Mr Salmond confirmed he had also had a conversation with Mr Michel.

The First Minister also faced questions about the change in editorial stance of the Scottish Sun. The Murdoch-owned tabloid had displayed a noose on its front-page warning against voting SNP before the 2007 election but by 2011 had thrown its support behind the Nationalists.

The First Minister said he spoke to Rebekah Brooks in 2007 about the Scottish Sun switching its support to the SNP. However, he told the inquiry, she had not permitted the tabloid to support the Nationalists in that election. He described his meetings with the former News International executives as "very unsuccessful". However, he said the new editor of the Scottish Sun who took over in early 2011, Mr Andy Harris, was "more than enthusiastic" about the editorial change of the newspaper in favour of the SNP.

Mr Salmond denied he was offering support for the BSkyB in exchange for the Scottish Sun's support for the SNP ahead of the 2011 election. "There was no quid pro quo," Mr Salmond maintained. "There wasn't a deal here," he added later.

He said he did not leak the planned date for the Scottish independence referendum to the Scottish Sun on Sunday, which the paper claimed was Saturday, October 14 2014. Mr Salmond added: "That date is not the date of the referendum; it is not a preferred date. It is a possible date."

He criticised the Metropolitan Police for not handing over information quickly about possible criminal acts to Scottish police. He said: "It's only in the last few months that Strathclyde Police have examined all of that information and informed the potential victims of the possibility of criminal acts against them. That seems to me a highly undesirable situation and something similar applies to possible breaches of data protection as well."

He was asked about his correspondence with STV over the channel's programming in relation to the Homecoming celebrations. Mr Salmond was also asked if he had made representations to Ofcom on behalf of STV. He said: "We do our best to further the Scottish interest... and STV produces programmes that are very much in the Scottish interest."

The First Minister also made representations on behalf of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities about antisemitic remarks posted in the comments sections of the websites of the Herald and the Scotsman. He said he wrote letters to the editors of the newspapers to highlight the matter.

The News of the World newspaper was closed down after it was revealed a private investigator working for it had illegally accessed the phone of missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler amongst others.

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