Salmond could spark a nationalist war over Europe

There was a Scooby Doo moment in Alex Salmond’s campaign launch on Tuesday. Something that made me think: ‘Ruh-roh’. The new leader of the Alba party was setting out his stall ahead of the 6 May Holyrood election and concentrating mostly on tactics. Voting for the SNP in the constituencies and Alba on the proportional list ballot, he contended, could elect a Scottish parliament with a ‘supermajority’ for independence.

Thereafter — in fact, in week one of that new parliament — he would expect the Scottish government to open negotiations with Whitehall for the dismantling of the United Kingdom. He was not averse to another referendum like the one he lost in 2014, but was open to other avenues, including legal action and ‘peaceful and popular demonstration’. If Boris won’t let you go on holiday this summer, come to Scotland, where we’ll be combining the annual rainfall of Colombia with the political climate of Catalonia.