NO decision has been made to bar Nicola Sturgeon from Alex Salmond’s memorial service, the acting leader of the Alba Party has said.
Former Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill, who has succeeded Salmond as acting Alba leader, quashed rumours Sturgeon would be unwelcome at a proposed celebration of the late former first minister, after his death at the age of 69.
The Sunday Mail reported an anonymous source as saying that there was “no chance in hell” Sturgeon would be invited to a memorial event for her one-time mentor.
But in a statement over the weekend, MacAskill (below) said: “Now is the time for Alex’s family to be given the privacy and time to grieve the loss of a beloved husband, brother and uncle.
“An announcement will be made in the coming days about arrangements for a private funeral to be attended by his family and close friends.
“There will be time in the coming weeks to celebrate his life and commemorate his achievements in a memorial service, the family have yet to make any arrangements for that. All other speculation is premature.
“I would ask that the family’s privacy be respected at this time.”
The Times reported that there are suggestions within Alba, the party led by Salmond from 2021 until his death earlier this month, that his life may be commemorated in an event on St Andrew’s Day or another Scottish winter holiday.
Sturgeon’s relationship with Salmond soured in 2017 after he began broadcasting on the Kremlin-backed RT channel and broke down entirely in 2018 after he was accused of sexually harassing women when he was first minister.
Salmond was cleared of all charges following a criminal court case and had previously won a civil case against the Scottish Government which found its investigation into the allegations against him was biased.
At the time of his death, he was suing the Scottish Government for £3 million over the investigation of the claims against him, alleging malfeasance.
It is now for his family to decide whether to continue the action – but allies have previously suggested that they believe it will.
Joanna Cherry (above), a former SNP MP and friend of Salmond’s, has said there should be no “moving on” from the legal challenge “until the issues of integrity and probity in public life underlying current police investigations and the treatment of Alex Salmond are examined and resolved”.
Last month, Salmond told a BBC documentary about the breakdown of his and Sturgeon’s relationship that he doubted he would ever talk to his former protege ever again.
He said: “It’s a big regret that Nicola and I are no longer on speaking terms.
“And I seriously doubt if it’s going to improve.”
In a statement issued after Salmond’s death, Sturgeon said that while the former first minister had been a “a very positive force in my life” she could not “pretend that the events of the past few years which led to the breakdown of our relationship did not happen”.
She added: “However, it remains the fact that for many years Alex was an incredibly significant figure in my life. He was my mentor, and for more than a decade we formed one of the most successful partnerships in UK politics.”
