Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander was accused of “banal point scoring” when he told MPs it was the King who secured the deal which saw Donald Trump scrap tariffs on Scotch whisky.
When the US President announced the move earlier this year, he told Scottish First Minister John Swinney he had been a “very big part” of the decision on lifting the tariffs.
But Mr Alexander told MPs on Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee that “direct discussions” between King Charles and the president had led to the move.
The Labour MP said: “On the whisky deal, ultimately we worked very closely with the Palace, and I wouldn’t want to share too much information on that, but it is right and reasonable to give very generous tribute to the work His Majesty the King did.
“Essentially he led on the direct discussions with the president during the state visit that took place in April, when the King and Queen were present in Washington.”
President Trump announced he would abolish Scotch whisky tariffs at the end of a state visit by the King and Queen to Washington DC in April.
Mr Alexander added that while the King was “dealing directly with the president”, UK negotiators were dealing with US officials, saying that this “proved to be a very powerful coming together”.
SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan insisted, however, that the Scottish First Minister had played a “central role” in the whisky deal.
Mr Doogan told the Scottish Secretary: “I’ve heard your version of events, but slightly jarring with that is where President Trump said John Swinney had worked very hard, he tweeted ‘congratulations John, you were a big part of my thinking’.
“The Scotch Whisky Association credited the First Minister for his leadership in this issue, and against that backdrop and those actual facts you as the Secretary of State accuse the First Minister essentially of lying, or misrepresenting what had gone on with the Scotch whisky tariffs.”
He asked Mr Alexander: “Wouldn’t it have been better for you in your position just to let it slide, rather than engage in that banal point scoring.”
He has not accepted the offer to meet at any point during my time as Secretary of State for Scotland
The exchanges came as Mr Alexander revealed he had not met Mr Swinney since becoming Scottish Secretary in September 2025.
He said: “I contacted the First Minister when I was appointed Secretary of State and asked to meet at his convenience, but that invitation was not accepted.
“And he has not accepted the offer to meet at any point during my time as Secretary of State for Scotland.”
Mr Alexander said he had also contacted Mr Swinney to congratulate him after the SNP won May’s Holyrood elections, and “reiterated that offer to meet with him” but he said he had not yet received a reply from the First Minister to his “earnest and genuine offer”.
Mr Doogan, however, told him the First Minister has a “long standing policy” of only engaging with the Prime Minister at UK Government level.
Mr Alexander also told MPs there had been a “divergence of views” when Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Mr Swinney after his Scottish Parliament election victory.
Mr Alexander said the Scottish Government had “briefed out immediately after the call the Prime Minister had agreed to discuss independence and a referendum”.
The Scottish Secretary, however, insisted that this was not the case.
He told MPs: “I wasn’t on the phone call but I have seen the official minute of the call and the Prime Minister was very clear that we were adhering to our manifesto we had set out ahead of July 2024, in which we stated we oppose independence but we also oppose a further independence referendum.”