Alex Salmond’s reaction to the death of Charles Kennedy was as revealing as it was contemptible

Neither man will much care for the comparison but, more than ever, Alex Salmond is rather like Gordon Brown. Each struggles to admit their opponents might ever have a point and that said point might be held in good faith. More importantly, each has the habit of thinking their opponents lesser mortals simply because they dare to take a different view on the great issues of the day. I thought of this today when I saw Salmond’s remarks responding to the sad news about Charlie Kennedy’s death. They were revealing remarks, just not in any way that flatters the former First Minister. Salmond, like everyone else, acknowledged Kennedy’s essential decency but then, as has often proved the case, found himself unable to resist the lure of some wishful thinking. Because Charles Kennedy was a good man and a fine public servant and because this fundamental decency could scarcely be denied it must be obvious that, being a good man, his Unionism could hardly have been sincere or whole-hearted.