WE all have our favourite stories, events, times that are important to us when we remember the extraordinary political life of Alex Salmond. For me, I have to go back in time 20 years to when I first joined the SNP under the inspirational influence of Alex. Like many of us it was Alex that brought us, drew us, took us into the independence movement.
My first step was being intrigued by his three 2003 lectures on the economic case for independence published in a book, The Economics of Independence, that I bought and devoured with heady agreement and support. Scotland COULD be a viable alternative to the lousy UK lot.
READ MORE: Alex Salmond's body ready to be returned to Scotland, North Macedonia confirms
Then Alex battled in the press first with Campbell Martin MSP and then with Jim Sillars, both of the angry group of frustrated “fundamentalist” supporters like we have now. And like now, John Swinney was leader of the party and very much on the back foot. So much so that he resigned in 2004 and Alex made his famous declaration about returning to leadership: “If nominated, I would decline. If drafted, I will defer, and if elected, I will resign.”
Within four weeks and after tons of lobbying from friends and members (including myself), Alex the gambler took on the challenge of leadership of the party, won the race, made a deal with Nicola Sturgeon to become his deputy and the rest is a great history.
2004: leader of the party; 2014: referendum vote; 2024: his untimely death.
Long live the political vitality, energy and commitment of Alex Salmond, national hero.
Thom Cross
Carluke
ALEX Salmond has been the towering figure of our times, both in Scotland and abroad and across the UK. He brought Scotland close to independence and led the indyref 2014 campaign. He took the SNP from the fringes to the centre of Scottish politics. He developed Scotland’s wind energy – today Scotland’s wind powers 100% of our electricity – at a time when England’s Tories short-sightedly vetoed turbines.
READ MORE: Alba open online book of condolences for Alex Salmond
He was also an astute politician – with charisma and high intellect. He believed that if Scots knew their own history, many more would vote for an independent Scotland. He was a Jacobin reformer and he spoke truth amongst the lies. And he forged a path ahead where none existed before him and held his head high. Will we see his like again – for Scots freedom and all your bonnets so blue! The dream shall never die.
P Keightley
Glasgow
YOU report the UK Government being pressed to facilitate the return of the body of Alex Salmond to his home (Call for RAF plane to bring Salmond’s body home, Oct 15).
While it is right that the human remains of a great patriot should be brought home to rest in the land he loved and believed in, there’s a wee part of me that wonders whether it would be apposite for him to remain within the Europe many of we patriots aspire to rejoin in comradely union.
It would be like him being an eternal emissary for those of us denied a destiny of freedom to make the choices we would, and only denied by the oppressive force of an occupying exploiting power determined to dictate to us, while denying us our right to nationhood, and reducing our status to an English county and not a country – Alex’s own final observation.
READ MORE: Alba membership increases following death of Alex Salmond
Miss the man so much. He was the independence bedrock we thought of as solid. His passing serves to remind us of our own mortality and that what we seek to achieve needs to be done while we can, and not deferred for whatever spurious reason of cowardice, laziness or incompetence.
We need to drive forward to independence now. There is no excuse or reason why those who claim to lead us delay any further. We don’t have to take our dream to our death as Alex has. The imperative to end foreign rule has never been greater. And realising that should be Alex Salmond’s legacy. Never before have I shed a tear on hearing of a politician’s untimely demise.
RIP Alex Salmond.
Jim Taylor
Scotland
ALEX Salmond was a titan of Scottish and “United Kingdom” politics who will become even more prominent in Scottish and British political history when Scotland regains its independence.
While it’s sad that some still do not see beyond their own self-interest and claim that the natural pursuit of self-determination is “divisive”, and others believe that the only route to independence is the route they see ahead of them (or retrospectively saw ahead of them) whether realistic or not, the fact is that Alex Salmond made most Scots believe that independence was not only possible but, sooner or later, desirable.
READ MORE: SNP's treatment of Alex Salmond 'Stalin-esque', Fergus Ewing says
My own personal journey from “defender” of the “British state” to enthusiastic supporter of Scotland’s independence commenced before hearing Alex’s passionate and inspiring words and his compelling, well-delivered arguments but there is no doubting his huge influence on my thinking and my now unshakable belief of the necessity of independence for Scotland to attain true social justice for all of our people and for our historic nation to thrive in the future.
To fulfil Alex’s rightful legacy, those harbouring past differences of opinion on the roles of others or the route to independence (often without comprehensive knowledge of all the pertinent factors) must look beyond their personal egos. With all independence supporters constructively working together, Scotland’s suppression by the almighty British establishment can be ended and Alex’s dream for the country he loved deeply can be realised within most of our own lifetimes, and preferably before this decade concludes.
Stan Grodynski
Longniddry, East Lothian
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