Latest news with #Salmond
The National
02-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Alex Salmond: news and interviews on the former first minister
He first joined the party in 1973 and led the SNP into power when they won the Scottish Parliament election in 2007. Alex Salmond, who grew up in Linlithgow, died of a heart attack last year at age 69. Read on for all Alex Salmond news and interviews on the former first minister. Alex Salmond news As reported by The National, here is a selection of the latest Alex Salmond news stories. Alba will build on the strategy left by Alex Salmond Kenny MacAskill beats Ash Regan to be elected Alba leader Shock as Alex Salmond died without leaving a will Alex Salmond as first minister Salmond served as the first minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. He helped lead the Yes movement in the 2014 independence referendum and resigned as first minister shortly after the result. His then-deputy, Nicola Sturgeon, succeeded him unopposed. Salmond later formed the pro-independence Alba Party in 2021 and was the party's leader. He has been credited for turning the SNP from the fringes into the mainstream as he led them into power when they won the Scottish Parliament election in 2007. The party subsequently won an unprecedented majority in the election four years later, which paved the way for the referendum on Scottish independence. Alex Salmond death A post-mortem examination confirmed that the former first minister died of a heart attack. Salmond collapsed during a lunch in a crowded room with fellow participants at an event in North Macedonia in October 2024. The day before, he had given a speech at the Cultural Diplomacy Forum in Ohrid and participated in meetings the morning before his death. In a statement, Salmond's family said he was 'a devoted and loving husband, a fiercely loyal brother, a proud and thoughtful uncle and a faithful and trusted friend'. The family's statement said: 'Alex was a formidable politician, an amazing orator, an outstanding intellect and admired throughout the world. 'He loved meeting people and hearing their stories and showed incredible kindness to those who needed it. 'He dedicated his adult life to the cause he believed in – independence for Scotland.' Alex Salmond wife Salmond was married to Moira McGlashan for four decades. The couple did not have any children. Recent reports suggest that he did not leave behind a will. A source close to the family told The Times there is concern about the impact on the late SNP leader's widow, adding: 'There was shock among the family when it became clear that Alex hadn't left a will." Alex Salmond sister Alex Salmond's sister is Gail Hendry, convener of Alba Borders. Gail and her daughter Christina backed Kenny MacAskill to be the leader of the Alba Party. MacAskill served in Salmond's cabinet and defected with him to his new party in 2021. Alex Salmond accusations Alex Salmond was accused of bullying colleagues when he led the Scottish Government in a BBC documentary that aired before his death. Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who was Salmond's deputy from 2007 to 2014, claimed she 'intervened' to stop Alex Salmond from bullying colleagues 'many times' and that he could be 'really rough on people'. Sturgeon (below) told the Financial Times: 'He would be really rough on people. Many times I intervened to stop him.' (Image: Gettty) Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon fall out The BBC documentary, Salmond And Sturgeon: A Troubled Union, which aired before his death, explored the broken relationship between Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond. It featured interviews from both former first ministers, who spoke about the public breakdown of their long-term political partnership. Hitting out at the documentary on X (formerly known as Twitter), Salmond described it as 'venomous bias' against Scottish independence. He said the documentary had 'plumbed new depths' and advised to 'turn it off after the first episode'. Salmond and Sturgeon's friendship began fracturing after allegations of sexual misconduct were made against Salmond while in office to both police and the Scottish Government. Sturgeon's government investigated the allegations, which led to a bitter split between them, with Salmond saying he 'seriously doubts' he will ever be on speaking terms with Sturgeon, according to the documentary. Salmond took legal action against the Government for its handling of the investigation into him and accused the Government of a plot against him. He was cleared of the allegations. Sturgeon had said that she mourned her relationship with Salmond after their friendship ended.
New York Times
30-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Why coaching Team Canada has deep, long-held meaning for Blue Jackets' Dean Evason
COLUMBUS, Ohio — On the morning after the Columbus Blue Jackets ended their season, the dressing room and back hallways of Nationwide Arena were buzzing. Some players packed up their locker belongings and got ready to head home for the offseason, while others milled about, mulling their next steps. Advertisement Coach Dean Evason didn't meet with every player, but he sat down for a face-to-face meeting with a few players, especially those who were leaving Columbus quickly. Those who stay year-round will likely grab coffee or lunch with the coach, he said. In the middle of all this, Evason received a call from the senior vice president of hockey operations for Team Canada's national team, Scott Salmond, who was in search of a coach for the IIHF World Championships and wanted to touch base before Evason started making offseason plans of his own. 'If you could be patient with leaving or booking flights anywhere,' Salmond told Evason, 'there's a consideration for you with Team Canada.' Evason had just finished maybe his finest season as an NHL coach, leading the young, patchwork Blue Jackets to a surprising 40-33-9 record, a whopping 23-point improvement over the previous season. The Jackets were the last NHL club eliminated from the playoffs, learning their fate with one game left in the season. The season had been positive and lifting on the whole, but the ending — coming oh-so-close, but not getting there — was deeply frustrating to Evason. He could use a lift. Salmond provided the tease. Three days later, the follow-up call came. '(Team Canada GM) Kyle Dubas called and asked if I would be interested,' Evason said. 'And I said, 'Yes, of course.' I didn't even have to think about it. 'I know there are different circumstances as to why guys turn it down. But to me, unless you're hurt, unless you're injured, unless you've got something of significance going on … if you can still play hockey, why not play hockey? And to represent your country is such an honor. It didn't take any time. I just said yes.' Evason left Columbus on Tuesday, flying to Vienna, Austria, where Team Canada will have two practices and a tune-up game against Austria. Then it's on to Budapest, Hungary, where they'll play a second tune-up game, and then Stockholm ahead of the tournament, which runs May 9-25 in Sweden and Denmark. Advertisement There have been other players who are more intrinsically linked to their national teams than Evason is to Team Canada. In Canada, that's golden-goal scorers Sidney Crosby and Marie-Philip Poulin, as well as the legendary Paul Henderson. But Evason's inclusion with Team Canada has taken place at some of the most important times in his career — a strong World Junior Championship in 1984, his final year of junior before he turned pro; a World Championships appearance that helped extend his pro career in 1997; and now, as he's gaining attention as one of the NHL's top coaches. Evason was coming off a monster 1982-83 season with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League. In 70 games, he scored 71 goals and had 93 assists, a 164-point season that, incredibly, was second in the WHL. Still, Evason said, he wasn't a lock to make Team Canada's entry the following season at the World Juniors in Sweden. 'I made it as a right winger,' said Evason, who had 6-3-9 in seven games in the tournament. 'Mario Lemieux was hurt prior to coming and it gave me an opportunity, I think, to probably make the team. 'The tournament was funky. We finished fourth because there was no playoff, no medal rounds. It was just a round-robin on points and then it ended. We lost to Finland. We tied Russia. We lost to Czech Republic. But we really would have liked a medal round, you know?' Evason, who was a fifth-round pick (No. 89) by the Washington Capitals in 1982, made his NHL debut a few months after that tournament, playing two games at the end of the season. He was off and running on an 803-game NHL career with Washington, Hartford, San Jose, Dallas and Calgary. Over his 15-year career, Evason was a feisty, indefatigable forward who spent most of his time under the opponents' skin. For longtime Blue Jackets fans, think Tyler Wright. Advertisement Just as Team Canada was there at the start of Evason's pro career, so it was a big part of the end of his NHL playing days. Evason's contract was bought out by the Calgary Flames following his 1995-96 season, in which he had seven goals and seven assists in 67 games. As the summer moved along, there were no NHL offers, just a few AHL contracts on the table with invitations to the NHL training camp. 'I was skating in the summer, staying in shape,' Evason said. '(Longtime NHL coach Andy Murray) comes up to me on the ice one day — this was his camp I was skating at — and he asked what I was doing next season.' That started a conversation that brought Evason back into the fold with Team Canada. Back then, Canada maintained a team that played its own season, much like the barnstorming days of old. They'd play tournaments all over the world, anywhere they could find games. Murray was the coach, and he brought Evason along as one of his players. 'There were a bunch of 18-to-24-year-olds on the team,' Evason said. 'We went to the Deutschland Cup (in Germany), the Spengler Cup (in Switzerland), the Izvestia Cup (in Russia), the Globen Cup (in Sweden) … we even went to Japan to play the Japanese National Team, because it was right before the Olympics in Nagano. 'We went to like 11 or 12 countries. I just soaked it all up. I had been bought out by the Flames, so I wasn't worried about money. I was skating my a– off, working out … I was in the best shape of my career.' That spring, the AHL's Houston Aeros wanted to sign Evason for their playoff run. When he told Murray of the offer, Murray played his trump card to keep him. 'If you stay,' he said, 'I'll take you to the World Championships.' Evason was the only non-NHL player on Team Canada's roster, which included some generational NHL stars: Rob Blake, Owen Nolan, Keith Primeau, Chris Pronger, Mark Recchi, Geoff Sanderson and a 19-year-old Jarome Iginla. Not only was Evason on the team, but Murray named him captain. Advertisement 'He gave me so much responsibility. He trusted me,' Evason said. 'You could see where it could be a challenge, but Andy had my back in that area. Plus, I'd played in the league, right, and I was only one year removed. I played with a few of those guys, so there was a relationship. 'The transition wasn't terrible. It was pretty natural, actually. And obviously it was a tremendous honor.' Back then, the World Championships didn't have a medal round. The two top teams played a three-game series to determine the champion. Canada lost the first game to Sweden, then came back to win the final two. Evason scored the 1-0 goal in the deciding game. 'A little wraparound,' Evason said. 'I jammed a rebound in.' Evason said he was planning to start his coaching career the following season, but his play with Team Canada — throughout the season, but especially in the Worlds — helped extend his playing days. He had two offers in Germany and one in Japan, he said. He played two seasons in Germany before hanging up his skates. A gold medal-winning captain at the 1997 #MensWorlds, Dean Evason has brought a love for the game and a love of his country behind the Team Canada bench. 🇨🇦 WATCH THE FULL VIDEO ⏩ — Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) May 18, 2024 It was 13 seasons between Evason's Team Canada appearances as a player, first with World Juniors, then the World Championships. It took 27 more years before he was back in the fold in a different capacity. Evason, who had been fired by the Minnesota Wild in November 2023, was hired last spring by Team Canada to be an assistant coach. Who hired him? Rick Nash, who holds considerable sway in the Blue Jackets' front office, is currently the program's director of hockey operations. Advertisement Team Canada, with Evason on coach André Tourigny's staff, finished fourth in Czechia. But that experience left a mark. First, with the Blue Jackets. Nash played a big part in the Blue Jackets' coaching search last summer under new GM Don Waddell, and he had only good things to say about Evason, based on players who'd played under him in Minnesota and in the minors, but also on the first-hand knowledge he gained at the Worlds. The Blue Jackets hired Evason last July. His personality — driven and demanding, but with a capacity for people skills — worked wonders in a dressing room that was craving discipline and guidance. In turn, his performance with Columbus may have helped drive the point home with Team Canada. One day after the Blue Jackets' season ended, Salmond called. Evason's coaching staff will include Calgary coach Ryan Huska, Nashville coach Andrew Brunette and Blue Jackets assistant coach Steve McCarthy. Evason had already divvied up responsibilities before he left Columbus for Vienna on Tuesday. 'Brunette will run the power play and the (offensive zone) routes and sequences,' Evason said. 'Huska will run the penalty kill, the (zone) entries and faceoffs, and look after the centers. (McCarthy) runs the defense. We're still waiting on a goalie coach, but we're in the process of getting one.' Evason will have two of his players — 20-year-old center Adam Fantilli and 22-year-old winger Kent Johnson — with him, too. For both players, this will already be their fourth time representing Team Canada, including twice in the World Championships. Fantilli (31 goals) and Johnson (57 points) both had breakout seasons in Columbus. 'Just to see them play as they did throughout the season, but especially at the end of the season … how hard they played, how sound they played in some very important games,' Evason said. Advertisement 'The great thing here, with us getting to have this experience together, is that I can continue to coach them to play in the right way. Not just offensively, but to continue their growth as all-around players.' Evason said he's already made mental notes about how he'll get this team ready to compete in the World Championships, which means everything to European hockey fans but is often an afterthought in North America, even in a hockey-mad Canada. The fourth-place finish last season should provide fuel. 'No question, it's a motivating factor,' Evason said. To the Europeans, a lot of times, this is their Stanley Cup. They'll do anything to win, and that's the message that I'll be giving to the players early. 'The Latvian team will block shots with their faces in order to keep that thing out of the net. Their commitment, like the other clubs (in Europe), is very, very high. As NHL players, you're honored to be there … but you'd rather be in the Stanley Cup playoffs. 'So we have to find a way to dial it up. That's my job.'
The National
27-04-2025
- Business
- The National
Fight to control our energy resources must be the SNP's next campaign
After all, the Moray West wind farm unveiled last week can power half the homes in Scotland – so powerful is that energy resource. It can, but it won't. At least not directly. Instead, the electricity generated will jump into the newly strengthened grid heading mainly for the new subsea connector near Aberdeen to be whisked down to power-hungry England, while Scots continue to pay the highest domestic and business energy bills in the UK. Where is the outrage? READ MORE: 'You're being had': BBC audience urged to 'get angry' over Scottish energy crisis Of course, no-one wants to put the dampeners on a real engineering achievement and since energy policy is reserved to Westminster, it was Scottish Secretary Ian Murray doing the honours and claiming the project for Westminster's march towards net zero and Labour's stotter towards GB Energy. Fine. Predictable. But where was the First Minister reminding everyone this is still Scotland's wind? I feel the ghost of Alex Salmond quietly raging in the corner. I wish I felt the rage of all independence-minded Scots as well. Salmond's single-minded determination to push ahead with onshore wind using only planning powers during the noughties stood in direct contrast to successive British governments which let a single local objection veto wind farms south of the Border. As a result, while Scotland's wind energy was turning Britain's energy supply green, hardly any turbines were erected south of the Border for 14 long Tory years. Too unsightly. Tall towers too industrial for England's green and pleasant land. Admittedly, visual intrusion also bothers many Scots. But when the alternative is reliance on fast-depleting, climate-altering fossil fuels, when Scotland has perhaps the best wind resource in the northern hemisphere, and when harnessing that resource could eliminate fuel poverty and revolutionise our economy, it made perfect sense for Salmond and Scotland to hammer on. But where has that got us? Sure, the planet has fewer emissions. Local people have a relatively small amount of community benefit from big wind farms but still pay the highest bills in the UK. Others got jobs (including some of the 1500 created in Moray West's construction) and Scotland has got record levels of inward investment – though steel for turbine construction comes from China and profits race back across the Border and out of the UK. Is that good enough? No. No other energy-rich North Atlantic state would accept the pennies thrown our way to compensate for the fuel poverty, high prices, shonky grid connections, overhead pylons and the big hole in public spending that comes from not being in control. But then all other North Atlantic states are independent. READ MORE: Thousands of people turn out to pro-independence march in Wales It's crystal clear. Without control over renewable resources through independence, Scotland will continue to be the poor relation, losing population, arguing amongst ourselves and robbing Peter to pay Paul for decent public services. Consider. On BBC Scotland's Debate Night programme in Inverness last week, one questioner bemoaned the parlous state of health services in the Highlands. A vascular surgeon has resigned over safety at Raigmore in Inverness and mothers-to-be in Caithness cannot give birth at home in Wick hospital. Too hard to staff. Too remote. Too small a population. Right. Compare and contrast the situation with the world's northernmost town – little Hammerfest in Norway. The Finnmark health board offers a package to entice professionals north – they write off student loans, apply a lower tax rate, help with housing and moving costs and point out that plentiful hydro makes electricity bills cheaper than the Norway average. Yip – Arctic Norway has cheaper energy than the rest of Norway which in turn is far cheaper than Scotland. And partly as a result of that, Hammerfest has a functioning maternity unit for the same population as Wick. Energy powers equality. And the converse is also true. Lack of affordable, plentiful energy is accelerating the new Highland clearances. When Scottish Hydro was born in the 1940s, it was going to be so different. The Home Rule-supporting Labour wartime Scottish secretary Tom Johnston banged landowners' heads together during the war years to force the construction of hydro dams across the Highlands, finally bringing 'power to the glens'. I know because my mother's family in Caithness went from tilly lamps to electricity in the 1950s and the company created to deliver it – the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board (NSHEB) or Hydro Board – had a social remit, inspired by the Tennessee Valley Authority scheme in the USA. Johnston said it would leave 'Scotia resurgent' reversing depopulation, encouraging new industries and providing employment. But all that history and purpose went out the window in the 1980s with Margaret Thatcher's privatisation of energy. Now, no one in Scotland expects what every other small country at our latitude enjoys. Cheap, renewable energy harnessed in the interests of its people. It's time we remembered and demanded better. Take Applecross. The 250-strong community over the highest mountain road in Britain managed to raise £780k in 2016 to win Westminster funding for Apple Juice – a community hydro project. Great. But they weren't given the extra grid connection promised by SSE – which means only half the hydro's tiny 90kw output can be sold to the grid. It means no other hydro on the peninsula can export, and there are no three-phase energy supplies, which basically means no new businesses and no public charging point for electric vehicles. Indeed, the new Applecross distillery is located off the peninsula near Kishorn. READ MORE: EHRC guidance on single-sex spaces branded 'harsh, authoritarian and cruel' by Greens The community company has tried valiantly to fill the gap with everything community filling station, housing and local broadband. But everything is difficult when local control of energy would make it so easy. So right now, there's no point developing more hydro, wind, tidal or solar. Applecross is all dressed up with nowhere to go. Awash with energy but losing population and stuck in fuel poverty. It's a situation replicated across rural Scotland and the islands. But unheard of in other small countries at our latitude. In Norway, the massive hydro resource has always been owned by local councils, indeed that public ownership template shaped the decision to create an oil fund in the 1970s. In the UK, strategic decisions about infrastructure – like grid strengthening and new connectors – are in the hands of the private company SSE, overseen by Ofgem who ensure new investments benefit the majority of British billpayers. And that – until very recently – has produced an aversion to spending our cash on any energy hardware in 'remote' Scotland. That short-sightedness and lack of strategic vision is why Scotland's energy-rich islands have not even had subsea connectors to harness the vast energy resources they possess. It's also the reason Applecross has been left high and dry. No-one else in Europe makes vital energy decisions this way. Energy-rich Scots pay the highest energy bills in the UK, yet the fight for fairness is being led by energy supplier Octopus, arguing for a new pricing mechanism that would leave Scots with the lowest bills in Europe. Yet there is a deafening silence from the SNP. It is Scotland's wind, rain and natural, abundant, home-grown energy. Yet that ownership issue is not being pushed front and centre by the SNP, Greens or anyone else, and Scots are not as animated about 'wind' ownership as we were about the black stuff 50 years ago. Might feisty political leadership change that, or will Scots have to do the heavy lifting ourselves with a new political movement or civil disobedience campaign? New documentary soon on Applecross, Scotland – energy-rich, power-poor
BBC News
26-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Kenny MacAskill succeeds Alex Salmond as Alba leader
Kenny MacAskill has been announced as the new leader of the pro-independence Alba contest was held following the sudden death of party founder and former First Minister Alex an ex-Alba MP, narrowly defeated Ash Regan, the party's sole MSP, in a two-way ballot for the role. He won 1331 votes, taking 52.3% of ballots. Former Alba MP Neale Hanvey was elected deputy leader with 78% of the vote, defeating ex-general secretary Chris a former SNP justice secretary, defected to Alba in 2021 while serving as MP for East Lothian. He lost his seat in last year's general election. Regan defected from the SNP in 2023 following a failed bid to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as party leader. A year previously she had resigned as community safety minister over the government's plans to reform gender recognition laws. The contest was triggered after Salmond, aged 69, died of a heart attack while attending a conference in North Macedonia in October. Both leadership candidates claimed the former first minister and SNP leader would have wanted them to succeed. The contest has been dogged by infighting. Last month, it emerged that McEleny had been suspended after being accused of gross a former SNP councillor, launched a separate complaint against MacAskill, though the party said there had not been any disciplinary investigation. Alba was set up by Salmond in the lead up to the 2021 Holyrood election. No party candidate has been elected at the ballot box. At last year's general election, 19 Alba candidates won a combined 11,784 votes. The party currently has two councillors. Both were originally elected as SNP candidates.
Telegraph
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Sturgeon's husband's embezzlement case sparks secrecy row
Prosecutors have been accused of giving Nicola Sturgeon's husband preferential treatment compared to Alex Salmond by keeping secret the details of the embezzlement charge he is facing. Joanna Cherry KC, a former SNP MP and a senior lawyer, questioned why the 'full details of the charges' against Peter Murrell had not been published following his private court appearance on Thursday. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) only disclosed he is facing an accusation of 'embezzlement', but sources claimed that legal papers at the hearing contained a series of detailed allegations. Ms Cherry also expressed concern that the media were not been informed of Murrell's private appearance at Edinburgh Sheriff Court until long after it had finished. In a procedure distinct to the Scottish justice system, appearances on petition are always made in private without the media being present in the courtroom. But Mr Salmond left the same court to face a media scrum after he appeared on petition in January 2019 on charges including attempted rape and sexual assault. He was cleared of all charges in a later trial. Lord Pentland, the new head of Scotland's judiciary, has been at the forefront of promoting 'open justice', saying the public and media 'have a right to know what happens in their courts'. But Crown Office insiders rejected the allegations of double standards, saying that more information had been made public about the allegations against Mr Salmond as he was facing multiple charges. Although they acknowledged that details of the embezzlement charge would have been made available to prosecutors and Murrell's defence team at Thursday's hearing, they said this would not be shared publicly. They also insisted that the COPFS would not have informed the media in advance about Mr Salmond's appearance on petition. The secrecy row broke out the day after Murrell, the former SNP chief executive, made no plea or declaration at the court hearing. The case was committed for further examination and he was bailed. Police Scotland then announced that Ms Sturgeon, 54, and Colin Beattie, the SNP's former treasurer, were ' no longer under investigation ' after receiving 'advice and guidance' from the Crown Office. This marked the end of the force's Operation Branchform, which examined the SNP's handling of more than £600,000 in donations raised in 2017 for a campaign to fight a second independence referendum. SNP supporters questioned what had happened to the money when accounts lodged with Companies House in 2020 appeared to show the SNP only had £97,000 in the bank. In May 2021, Ms Cherry resigned from the SNP's ruling national executive committee citing concerns about 'transparency' about the party's finances. The former Edinburgh South West MP, who lost her seat in last year's general election, posted on X: 'I hope someone will also ask why the full details of the charges on the petition against Peter Murrell are not in the public domain. We are supposed to have #OpenJustice in Scotland & the same rules for everyone.' She also posted that she was 'not surprised' that the police investigation of Ms Sturgeon had ended, adding: 'I wonder when full details of the charges against Murrell will be published? This happened very promptly when Alex Salmond first appeared in court.' The Crown Office declined to add to a statement it issued the previous day in which it said: 'Professional prosecutors from COPFS and independent counsel are dealing with this case without involving the Lord Advocate or Solicitor General. All Scotland's prosecutors operate independently of political influence.' The prosecution service had previously said that its two most senior figures, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain and Solicitor General Ruth Charteris, had recused themselves from decisions on the case. They are also the SNP Government's two most senior law officers and are both ministers. Ms Sturgeon nominated them for the roles in June 2021. The purpose of a private court appearance on petition is to put the accused on notice of the nature of allegations they stand to face, and allow for preparations to be made for proceedings by both prosecution and defence. Normally, an accused's solicitor will be provided with the evidence which has been recovered. This allows them to prepare a defence or consider a guilty plea. If the case is to proceed to trial, the formal accusation will be served in the form of an indictment within determined time limits. A Crown Office spokeswoman said: 'There is not an indictment at petition stage, there is the petition document which sets out a first draft of charges against an accused. This is part of preparations for proceedings by both prosecution and defence. 'Appearances on petition are always made in private without the attendance of the media, and an outline charge or charge list only can be provided to media to assist.'
