Semi-official Salmond mourning period hasn’t stopped nationalist mud-slinging

Alex Salmond, who died suddenly last month
Alex Salmond, who died suddenly last month - Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Recent events have revealed, in the starkest way possible, that the bitter battle and ferocious mud-slinging within Scotland’s nationalist community is not just continuing but might also be getting worse.

It doesn’t seem to have mattered to the warring parties that, to all intents and purposes, we are still in what might be described as a semi-official mourning period for Alex Salmond, who died suddenly last month.

His private family funeral service was held last week in his adopted home town of Strichen, Aberdeenshire, and a memorial service is being organised for Edinburgh later this month.

But the last few days have seen an incredible bout of animosity spring up, with allies of the late SNP leader and former first minister of Scotland accusing those of Nicola Sturgeon, his successor in both roles, of mounting a smear campaign against Mr Salmond. She has denied being part of any such campaign.

It follows reports that Police Scotland was “assessing” a new allegation of a “non-recent” sexual assault against Mr Salmond. In another development, it has also been reported that a group of five or six women had complained to the SNP in 2022 about his alleged behaviour. Nothing was done about the latter claims, as by then he had resigned from the SNP.

The claims of a renewed conspiracy against Mr Salmond came from Chris McEleny, the general secretary of the Alba Party, founded by Mr Salmond in direct competition to the SNP, which he had almost led to a remarkable success in the 2014 independence referendum.

Starting anew with a new party was the most obvious illustration that the split between Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon was final.

Mr McEleny is urging Ms Sturgeon to, in effect, call off the dogs in the shape of those he believes are responsible for the latest claims being levelled against Mr Salmond. I’d be astonished if she accedes to a request like this, as doing so would merely add fuel to the accusation that she’s responsible for them. Neither the SNP nor Ms Sturgeon responded to a request for a comment.

She was at the centre of an accusation by Mr Salmond that she had been the organiser of a “conspiracy” that saw him face 13 charges of sexual misconduct, which included one of attempted rape, on all of which he was acquitted after a High Court trial in 2020. Ms Sturgeon has repeatedly denied this allegation.

However, there is a view among Mr Salmond’s friends and allies that his large-scale acquittal now precludes any mention of this period of his life when he did engender a feeling of unease amongst many women who came into contact with him. And senior Scottish civil servants didn’t want their junior staff working alongside him.

And his own defence advocate had been overheard appearing to tell a train passenger that Mr Salmond could be seen to be a “sex pest”. He later vehemently denied that was his view of the former first minister.

Notwithstanding this, there is little doubt that Mr Salmond has a sizeable following amongst Scotland’s nationalists and also a circle of friends across the political divide in Britain as well as in the business community.

His memorial service, expected to be held at Edinburgh’s St Giles Cathedral on St Andrew’s Day, Nov 30, will be a ticket-only affair for an estimated congregation of around 400.

That said, my serious doubts about a rapprochement between the two national parties in Scotland will remain, as will those doubts about Mr Salmond’s qualities as a man and a leader.