Heartfelt tributes were paid to the late Alex Salmond in the Commons today. A number of politicians from across the house shared memories of the former first minister of Scotland in a series of points of order, with the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn first to speak on the ‘most talented, formidable and consequential politician of his generation’. Scotland Secretary Ian Murray joked that the Scotland Office had brought Salmond and his wife Moira together, while Conservative John Lamont insisted that the pro-indy politician was ‘undoubtedly a giant’ in politics.
Next it was the turn of close friend and confidante of Salmond, Sir David Davis MP. ‘Very, very few people in this House change history,’ the Conservative politician began:
Most of us are moved by it rather than move it ourselves. Alex Salmond was an exception to that, as we’ve heard from all of the people, mostly his opponents, who have spoken well of him today. He was a brilliant speaker. He was passionate about social justice. And of course, he was particularly passionate about his own country and his wish for independence for the Scottish nationalist agenda.
Davis then turned to address the recent controversy surrounding the former first minister of Scotland. ‘It was a tragedy at the end of his career that his own party, his own government, turned on him,’ the Tory MP lamented. While Davis informed the Commons he wasn’t planning on elaborating on the matter there and then, the Salmond ally hinted that there may come a time when he speaks more about the recent – and tumultuous – past of the Scottish Nationalist party.
Nodding towards an emotive statement put out by Salmond’s lawyer, Davis added:
David McKie represented him through these really, really difficult times of his life. [He said]: ‘Alex’s courage and strength of character over the three year period from the Scottish government launching an unlawful process against him throughout his criminal trial, in which he was cleared on all charges by a jury of his peers, to his unimpeachable evidence to the parliamentary inquiry was absolutely incredible. What he endured, the apparatus of the state turned against him, would have broken many people – but not Alex.’
Strong stuff. It comes after the Tory grandee called at the weekend for ‘Salmond reforms‘ in Holyrood, in memory of the politician. Earlier this year Davis used parliamentary privilege at Westminster to claim that Nicola Sturgeon’s ex-chief of staff Liz Lloyd leaked details of a government sexual harassment investigation against Salmond to Scotland’s Daily Record. Now the Conservative MP is calling for MSPs to have the same privilege as MPs, meaning they would be protected from defamation action when they speak in the Scottish parliament, in his bid to clear Salmond’s name. Meanwhile on Sunday, ally and long-time colleague of Salmond, Joanna Cherry KC, insisted that she believed that ‘time will vindicate’ the former first minister. Stay tuned…
Watch the speech here:
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