While Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon’s relationship was already at a low eb, the former First Minister’s broadside against his successor last night was extraordinary. Launching a ferocious attack over Scotland’s Self-ID laws, Salmond decried the move as “self-indulgent nonsense” that has undermined the nationalists’ independence campaign…
“Thirty years of gradually building, building, building until we get independence over 50 per cent and then thrown away with some self-indulgent nonsense, which even if it was right, which it isnae, would hardly be tactically the most astute manoeuvre when we’re meant to be taking Scotland to its next date with destiny.”
Given the history between the two, it probably won’t surprise Sturgeon to see Salmond come out against her again. The latest YouGov poll showing support for Scottish independence drop from 53 per cent to 47 per cent in just a month might give her pause, though…
For years, Scotland’s offshore wind has been central to the SNP’s pitch for independence, with Scottish ministers dating back to Salmond’s premiership repeating claims that Scotland boasted 25% of Europe’s wind potential. The trouble is, the SNP policy wonks had forgotten Scandinavia exists. The actual figure is around 5% of Europe’s wind potential – they were only out by a factor of 5.
The issue was raised in Holyrood by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, who decried a “pattern of misinformation”. If the Lib Dems are criticising misleading statistics, they must be bad. What makes the matter worse is the SNP has continued to parrot the figure into the present day. A Scottish minister, the Green’s Lorna Slater, deployed the figure as recently as this week. Unlike Salmond himself, this is one inconvenient remnant of his leadership the party has been unable to get rid of…
Russia Today are currently clearing out their studio in Millbank Tower. Their office has been practically silent for the last couple of weeks, and now they’re finally packing their bags and hitting the road. The TVs have been switched off and it looks like their studio equipment is being hauled out the building at the time of going to pixel. Putin’s off-air propaganda channel looks to be permanently vacating the place they’ve called home for so long…
Pictured is George Galloway’s studio kit being removed. Earlier today Alex Salmond was spotted outside RT’s Millbank office:
Outside Russia Today's office on Millbank Alex Salmond's driver loading a fridge into the back of the Mercedes as he watches.
— Eye Spy MP (@eyespymp) March 17, 2022
Handy for the new Cold War…
Salmond has suspended his Russia Today show – statement in full:
“Släinte Media have decided to suspend the Alex Salmond Show broadcast on RT until further notice. We now have the worst of all fears – a hot war in Europe. The efforts of every single person should be to re-establish the peace. That certainly is our focus, and therefore Slainte Media have decided to suspend the Alex Salmond Show until that can be secured. There is no productive point in having the future of a television show dominate Prime Minister’s Questions as it did yesterday, when politicians should be rising to the occasion of the great issues of peace in Europe.
The Show has broadcast over 200 independently produced episodes by a Scottish company run by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh and I. Each and every one of the programmes has attempted to give a range of serious people of contrasting opinions a fair chance to state their views. That applied from our first interview with Carles Puigdemont to today’s interview with Sir Vince Cable.
That will be the last one broadcast until a peace is re-established. As our hundreds of quests can testify, I should make it clear that not once in all of that time, has there been a single piece of editorial interference of any kind from RT. They have kept entirely to their commitments on this in line with the Ofcom code.
In contrast, the blatant attacks on freedom of speech from establishment political parties are not just entirely hypocritical, but have whipped up a crescendo of personal abuse and harassment of my co-presenter Ms Ahmed-Sheikh to the extent that she is now quite legitimately concerned about the safety of her family.
All wars come to an end. Let us pray that this one will not escalate even further. Now every single persons’ efforts should turn to supporting attempts to regain the peace.”
Straight on from repeatedly denying there is an ongoing Uyghur genocide in China, Vince Cable has made another questionable foreign policy statement: appearing on Alex Salmond’s Russia Today show. Just a day after LibDem MP Jamie Stone slammed Salmond’s continued appearance on the channel…
Cable – still a LibDem member – spends a whole 30 minutes on the show, primarily plugging his new book and patting himself on the back for his Gordon Brown Mr Bean PMQs jibe. Funnily enough, Ukraine isn’t discussed…
UPDATE: LibDem spokesperson: “Vince has many views which the party has always valued, but appearing on RT is wrong. As a leader his strong criticism of the Salisbury incident and Russian oligarchs in the UK are on the record.”
Sky News just provided the most enjoyable political scrap in a long while, covering the allegations against Salmond to some of the more controversial statements from Alba’s candidates. Guido’s not sure why Salmond is in London during a) an election in Scotland and b) travel restrictions between the two countries…
Watch the sparring match in full below:
