Alex Salmond latest: Scotland’s former First Minister dies, aged 69

The ever-combative Salmond had posted on X (formerly Twitter) at 2pm, shortly before passing away.

The Alba leader and fervent proponent of Scottish independence criticised first minister John Swinney for posing in a “convivial group selfie” at a meeting of the Council of the Nations and Regions with the Labour government, who are “freezing Scots pensioners” by axing the winter fuel payment.

In the post, he wrote: “Tony Blair used to whine that he never really compared the Scottish Parliament to an “English Parish Council”, it was only the nasty Scottish press who twisted his remarks! In fact, he did so compare.

“Similarly, there is little point in John Swinney complaining that his attendance at the grandly titled Council of the Nations and Regions doesn’t carry a perception of a regional status for the nation of Scotland – it does deliver that status.

“If John or his advisers had read Gordon Brown’s original proposal for this Council, then they would have realised that this wasn’t some ad hoc reset meeting, but part of a plan to pull any independence teeth from devolution.”

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