Alex Salmond memorial hears bringing trawler tragedy victims home was his proudest achievement

The widow of a fisherman who perished in one of the country’s worst trawler ­tragedies wept during the memorial to Alex Salmond as she heard how returning the men to their families was his proudest moment.

Shirley Henderson became emotional when the former FM’s long-time friend, lawyer Duncan Hamilton, told the 500-strong congregation of his battle to raise the sunken Sapphire from the seabed off Peterhead in 1997.

Hamilton said: “In 2017 he gave an interview I discovered the other day which I want to share. He said this, ‘If I go to the Pearly Gates and my maker says, ‘What did you ever do with your life as an MP and all the rest of it?’ I might well say, ‘I helped raise the Sapphire.’”

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“Alex led the campaign to have the Sapphire raised and the deceased returned to their families. The point is this – he understood that politics is about people and that at its core it is about community.”

Shirley’s husband, Robert Stephen, 24, died alongside Adam Stephen, 29, Bruce Cameron, 32, and Victor Podlesny, 45, on October 1, 1997. The UK government refused to finance the recovery of the bodies, but undeterred, Salmond, then MP for Banff and Buchan, spearheaded a campaign to raise £600,000 for the ship to be lifted and the bodies returned to their families.

Shirley, now 51, told how she was incredibly touched to be invited to the memorial. She said: “We are all grateful for what Alex achieved for us as a family. He provided peace for the families, dignity for our boys and a place to take our children. It was an honour to be invited.” She added: “He achieved miracles for us.”

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