Obituary: The political titan that was former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond

Published

10 months ago

October 13, 2024

admin

Alex Salmond has died at the age of 69.

Love or loathe Mr Salmond – who was described as a “Marmite man” during his high-profile court case – few would dispute his skill and achievements as a politician.

Under the leadership of the keen golfer and horse racing fan, the SNP rose to power and became a titan party north of the border.

Some would argue if it were not for the political talent of Mr Salmond, there would have been no Scottish independence referendum at all in 2014.

As the tributes flood in following his death, we take a look at the man who was once first minister of Scotland.

Mr Salmond was first elected to Westminster in 1987 as the SNP MP for Banff and Buchan – a position he retained until 2010.

In 1990, he successfully defeated Margaret Ewing in the SNP leadership contest and would go on to campaign for Scottish devolution in 1997.

In 1999, after the establishment of the Scottish Parliament as a result of devolution, he led his party through the first Scottish parliament election and became MSP for Banff and Buchan as well as leader of the opposition – with Labour in power.

A year later, Mr Salmond quit as SNP leader amid a series of high-profile fallouts with party members and was replaced by current first minister John Swinney.

In 2001, he then stood down from Holyrood in order to lead the SNP group at Westminster.

Following a disastrous 2004 European parliament election for the SNP, Mr Swinney stepped aside as party leader with Mr Salmond re-elected with overwhelming support from the party’s members.

Following a highly effective campaign in the 2007 Scottish election, the SNP gained 20 seats, giving the party a total of 47 seats in Holyrood – one more than Scottish Labour.

Although the party didn’t have an overall majority, new Gordon MSP Mr Salmond became first minister of Scotland in 2007.

In the 2011 Scottish elections, the SNP secured the first outright majority in the history of the Scottish parliament, and Mr Salmond won a second term as first minister while MSP for the new constituency of Aberdeenshire East.

In 2012, Mr Salmond signed an agreement with then British prime minister David Cameron to hold a referendum on Scottish independence in 2014.

The historic event – which would have seen Scotland break away from the rest of the UK – took place on 18 September 2014 and saw more than two million people (55.3%) vote No and 1.6 million (44.7%) vote Yes.

Following the defeat, Mr Salmond stepped down as first minister and SNP leader and was replaced by Nicola Sturgeon.

In an interview with Sky News to mark the 10th anniversary of the independence referendum, Mr Salmond said he started to write his concession speech when the first result was declared.

Mr Salmond returned to the Commons as MP for Gordon in the 2015 general election but was ousted in the 2017 election by Conservative Colin Clark.

The loss marked the first time since 1987 that Mr Salmond was not in an elected position at either Westminster or Holyrood.

Mr Salmond would go on to launch The Alex Salmond Show on RT, the former Russia Today channel editorially controlled and funded by the Russian government.

Mr Salmond was criticised by Scottish politicians over the decision to host it on RT, with Ms Sturgeon saying she would have advised against it.

The show, which also featured Mr Salmond’s protege Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, was suspended following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Not to be stopped, a new show titled Scotland Speaks with Alex Salmond launched a year later via Turkish public broadcaster TRT. The first episode featured an interview with Hollywood actor Brian Cox.

Before that, however, Mr Salmond resigned from the SNP in August 2018 in the face of allegations of sexual misconduct while first minister.

Mr Salmond said he wanted to avoid internal division within the party amid calls to suspend him.

Denying any wrongdoing, Mr Salmond vowed to re-join the SNP once he had an opportunity to clear his name.

Mr Salmond went on to take the Scottish government to court to challenge the complaints procedure which had been activated against him.

The investigation was deemed by a judicial review to have been “tainted by apparent bias”, with Mr Salmond awarded £512,000 as a result.

In January 2019, Mr Salmond was arrested by Police Scotland and charged with 14 offences, including two counts of attempted rape, nine sexual assaults, two indecent assaults, and one breach of the peace.

In March 2020, Mr Salmond was cleared of all charges. A jury found him not guilty of 12 charges, one charge was dropped by prosecutors during the trial, while another charge was found not proven.

During a procedural hearing of the case, reporting of which was banned until the end of the trial, Mr Salmond’s defence team claimed the Scottish government and those working there turned to the criminal process to try to “discredit” him after he won the civil case into how the administration handled sexual harassment complaints against him.

Details heard during the trial were devastating to Mr Salmond’s public image, with allegations of bullying and demanding behaviour.

Defence advocate Gordon Jackson KC put it to the court that Mr Salmond was a “touchy-feely kind of person”.

Jurors heard details of inappropriate behaviour, including Mr Salmond admitting that he had a “sleepy cuddle” with one complainer and sexual contact with two complainers, neither of them his wife, Moira.

In his closing speech, Mr Jackson described his client as a “Marmite man” as well as someone who “could have been a better man”.

Two subsequent inquiries into the conduct of ministers and officials saw Mr Salmond asserting his belief that many in his former party had colluded against him in an effort to block any final return to frontline politics.

After being cleared, Mr Salmond vowed that evidence of a plot to discredit him would “see the light of day”.

While once great friends, the sexual harassment allegations and subsequent court case led to the breakdown of Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon’s relationship.

Mr Salmond did not return to the SNP and instead launched rival Alba Party in 2021.

He has often been critical of his successors, Ms Sturgeon, Humza Yousaf and Mr Swinney.

When Ms Sturgeon quit as first minister in 2023, Mr Salmond told Sky News that the SNP had “no obvious successor”.

While speaking during an Edinburgh Fringe event later that year, Mr Salmond refused to rule out a reconciliation with Ms Sturgeon and said it would be “sad” if they remained on poor terms.

Despite not achieving his dream, Mr Salmond never wavered in his belief that Scotland would be better as an independent country.

In one of his final interviews with Sky News, he said: “I don’t say that Scotland would be a land of milk and honey, but we would be a land of oil, gas and renewables and that would stand us in good stead.”

UK

Police separate anti-immigration and anti-racism protesters across the country

Published

5 hours ago

August 23, 2025

admin

Police separate anti-immigration and anti-racism protesters across the country

Protesters have gathered across the country as groups demonstrated against asylum seeker housing and were met by anti-racism campaigners.

Demonstrations under the Abolish Asylum System slogan were held in England, Scotland and Wales, including in Bristol, Exeter, Tamworth, Cannock, Aberdeen, Mold, Perth, Nuneaton, Liverpool, Wakefield, Newcastle, Horley and Canary Wharf.

Counter-protests were also organised by campaign group Stand Up to Racism.

In Bristol, mounted police separated the two groups in the Castle Park, with officers scuffling with protesters.

Police kept around 200 anti-immigration protesters draped in English flags away from roughly 50 Stand Up to Racism protesters in Horley, Surrey.

One man, wearing a West Ham United football shirt, was held by police as he yelled: “You’re not welcome here, you’re not welcome here, you’re not welcome here” at anti-racism protesters.

Anti-immigration protesters also chanted: “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy Robinson” in support of the far-right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

The anti-racism protesters chanted “say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here” and held signs calling for solidarity and to “stop deportations”.

The Stand Up to Racism protesters were shepherded into a smaller area as they continued to chant: “No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here”, which was met with “No they’re f****** not” from the other side of the street.

In Perth, protesters gathered outside the Radisson Hotel.

The anti-migration protesters held up signs with slogans such as “Perth is full – empty the hotels” and “get them out”.

Stand Up to Racism Scotland said it had achieved “victory” in Perth, with more than 200 gathering to oppose the Abolish Asylum System demonstration.

In Liverpool, a dispersal order was issued to try and contain the protests.

Saturday’s events come amid continued tension around the use of the hotels for asylum seekers.

Regular protests had been held outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, which started after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl on 10 July.

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with trying to kiss a teenage girl and denies the allegations. He is due to stand trial later this month.

In the wake of those protests, Epping Forest District Council sought and won an interim High Court injunction to stop migrants from being accommodated there – a decision which the government is seeking permission to appeal.

UK

Reform UK’s new immigration plans would’ve been extreme just a few years ago

Published

6 hours ago

August 23, 2025

admin

Reform UK's new immigration plans would've been extreme just a few years ago

Mass deportations. Prison camps. Quitting the Refugee Convention and the UN Convention on Torture.

A shrug of the shoulders at the idea of the UK sending asylum seekers back to places like Afghanistan or Eritrea, where they could be tortured or executed.

“I’m really sorry, but we can’t be responsible for everything that happens in the whole of the world,” says Nigel Farage.

“Who is our priority?”

The Reform UK leader has been setting out his party’s new plans to address illegal migration in an interview with The Times newspaper – a set of policies, and a use of language, which would surely have been seen as extreme just a few years ago.

Only last autumn the Reform leader repeatedly shied away from the concept of “mass deportations”, describing the idea as “a political impossibility”.

But now he’s embraced Trump-style immigration rhetoric.

It’s not surprising that Reform want to capitalise on the outpouring of public anger over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers. The policy was started by the previous Conservative government, in response to housing shortages – and Labour has failed to make significant progress on its promise to stop it.

But all the major parties have shifted firmly to the right on this issue.

There’s been very little political criticism of the aggressiveness of Farage’s policy suggestions, and the premise that the UK should no longer offer sanctuary to anyone who arrives here illegally.

The Tory response has been to complain that he’s just copying the ideas they didn’t quite get round to implementing before calling the general election.

“Four months late, this big reveal is just recycling many ideas the Conservatives have already announced,” said Chris Philp MP, the shadow home secretary.

“Labour’s border crisis does urgently need to be fixed with tough and radical measures, but only the Conservatives have done – and will continue to do – the detailed work to deliver a credible plan that will actually work in practice.”

Certainly, the ambition to arrest and deport everyone who arrives in a small boat – regardless of whether or not they have legitimate grounds for asylum – has clear echoes of the Tories’ Rwanda policy.

Despite spending £700m on the controversial idea, only four volunteers were ever sent to Kigali before it was cancelled by Sir Keir Starmer, who branded it a gimmick.

Labour have suggested they’ve diverted Home Office resources that were freed up by that decision into processing asylum claims more quickly and increasing deportations.

They’re hoping tougher action against the criminal gangs and the new “one in one out” deal with France will help deter the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats in the first place, currently at record levels.

But rather than offering any defence of the principle of offering asylum to genuine refugees – Labour’s Angela Eagle MP, the border security minister, has also focused on the feasibility of Farage’s policies.

“Nigel Farage is simply plucking numbers out of the air, another pie in the sky policy from a party that will say anything for a headline,” she said.

“We are getting a grip of the broken asylum system. Making sure those with no right to be here are removed or deported.”

Even the Liberal Democrats have taken a similar approach.

“This plan sums up Nigel Farage perfectly, as like him it doesn’t offer any real solutions,” they said.

“Whilst Farage continues to stoke division, we Liberal Democrats are more interested in delivering for our local communities.”

It’s been left to the Refugee Council to defend the principle of asylum.

“After the horrors of the Second World War, Britain and its allies committed to protecting those fleeing persecution,” said CEO Enver Solomon.

“The Refugee Convention was our collective vow of ‘never again’ – a legal framework ensuring that people who come to our country seeking safety get a fair chance to apply for asylum.

“That commitment remains vital today. Whether escaping conflict in Sudan or repression under regimes like the Taliban, people still need protection.

“Most find refuge in neighbouring countries. But some will seek sanctuary in Europe, including Britain.

“We can meet this challenge by upholding a fair, managed system that determines who qualifies for protection and who does not.”

But with Reform leading in the polls, and protests outside hotels across the country – politicians of all stripes are under pressure to respond to public frustration over the issue.

A recent YouGov poll found half of voters now believe immigration over the last ten years has been mostly bad for the country – double the figure just three years ago.

While the government has made some progress in reducing the cost of asylum hotels – down from £8.3m a day in 2023/4 to £5.77m a day in 2024/5 – the overall numbers accommodated in this way have gone up by 8% since Labour took charge, thanks to the surge in new claims.

Sir Keir has previously said he won’t make a promise he can’t keep.

But current efforts to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029 are clearly not working.

That’s a credibility gap Farage is more than ready to exploit.

UK

Three people in a life-threatening condition after ‘arson attack’ at restaurant

Published

9 hours ago

August 23, 2025

admin

Three people in a life-threatening condition after 'arson attack' at restaurant

Three people are in a life-threatening condition after a suspected arson attack at a restaurant in Ilford, say police.

Five people – three women and two men – were injured in the fire, which broke out shortly after 9pm on Friday at Indian Aroma on Woodford Avenue, Gants Hill.

No arrests have been made.

Hospital porter Edward Thawe, 43, went to help with his son after hearing screams from his nearby home.

He described the scene as “horrible” and “more than scary and the sort of thing that you don’t want to look at twice”.

He said: “I heard screaming and people saying they had called the police.”

He said he saw a woman and a severely burned man who may have been customers.

He said the man’s “whole body was burnt”, including his shirt, but he was still wearing his trousers.

After being treated at the scene by paramedics from the London Ambulance Service, the victims were taken to hospital.

Nine others were able to get out beforehand, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said in a statement.

“The brigade’s control officers received seven calls about the fire and mobilised crews from Ilford, Hainault, Leytonstone and Woodford fire stations to the scene. The fire was extinguished by 10.32pm,” said an LFB spokesperson.

“We understand this incident will cause concern within the community. My team of specialist detectives are working at speed to piece the incident together,” said Detective Chief Inspector Mark Rogers, of the Met’s Central Specialist Crime North unit.

“Locals can expect to see a large police presence in the area. If you have any concerns, please speak to those officers on the ground.”

The London Ambulance Service told Sky News: “We sent resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, an advanced paramedic, an incident response officer and paramedics from our hazardous area response team.

“We treated five people for burns and smoke inhalation. We took two patients to a major trauma centre and three others to local hospitals.”

Health secretary Wes Streeting, who is the MP for Ilford North, posted on X to thank the emergency services for their response to the fire.

He also asked his constituents to “please avoid the area for now”.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Met via 101, quoting 7559/22AUG. If you wish to remain anonymous, please speak with Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.