Sturgeon and Salmond’s fight to the death

Amid the wreckage of a Brexit process that has disrupted every aspect of British political life, it is easy to forget that it is not the only drama currently playing. Nor is Theresa May the only political leader who has no need to go searching for trouble. Michael Gove openly warns that ‘winter is coming’ for Westminster, but in the north it has already arrived. In Edinburgh, Nicola Sturgeon faces the biggest crisis of her career. It is one that may yet destroy her.

Civil war is always uglier than your standard political conflict. We have the First Minister complaining that she is the victim of a ‘smear’ campaign and a ‘vendetta’ launched against her by, astonishingly, her predecessor, Alex Salmond. His allies say exactly the same: that his successor is seeking to destroy what’s left of both his political career and his reputation. Salmond complains that his enemies see him as a ‘political threat’ who must be silenced, once and for all.