Joanna Cherry: Alex Salmond was stabbed in the back by colleagues

Ms Cherry said time will vindicate the former first minister

Alex Salmond was stabbed in the back by friends and colleagues and “time will vindicate his name”, Joanna Cherry has claimed.

The ex-SNP MP, who was a key ally of the former first minister, said the way he had been treated was “pretty disgusting”.

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It came as Mr Salmond’s former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, broke down in tears at the end of a BBC interview after insisting the dream of Scottish independence is not dead because of the work of his ex-boss.

Mr Salmond died of a suspected heart attack on Saturday at the age of 69 while attending an international conference in North Macedonia.

Ms Cherry, who lost her seat at the general election in July and has returned to her legal career, said there were still outstanding legal actions relating to the sexual misconduct allegations made against Mr Salmond and the Scottish Government’s handling of them.

Mr Salmond was previously acquitted of all criminal charges following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in 2020. He has since alleged there was a conspiracy among senior SNP figures, including his successor Nicola Sturgeon, to jail him. Ms Sturgeon has strongly denied this.

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In 2019, Mr Salmond was awarded £500,000 in legal costs after a judge said a Government investigation into claims made against him had been “procedurally unfair" and "tainted with apparent bias". Last year he launched a fresh legal case seeking significant damages and loss of earnings.

Speaking to BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, Ms Cherry said: “Alex has an outstanding civil action and there are outstanding criminal investigations, which we can’t say very much about.

“I think it’s a terrible tragedy that Alex has died before he was able to be completely vindicated.

“But I believe that time will vindicate his name, and I think more and more people across the political divide in Scotland are becoming interested in what exactly went on behind the scenes in relation to Alex Salmond.

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“And I think it’s the great tragedy of Alex Salmond’s career that so many of his erstwhile comrades and political colleagues and friends either stabbed him in the back or turned their backs on him in his hour of need.

“I found that pretty disgusting at the time, and I’m very proud that I stood by him. And I think it’s very important that as we talk about him in the days to come, we remember that he was acquitted of all the criminal charges against him.”

Presenter Gary Robertson said Mr Salmond did admit to inappropriate behaviour. The former first minister’s lawyer told his criminal trial he could have been a “better man”.

But Ms Cherry said this was “very different from criminal behaviour”, adding: “We’re all flawed individuals who do inappropriate things from time to time. He was acquitted of the criminal charges, and that’s a very significant matter.”

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Tory MP David Davis, who was a close friend of Mr Salmond’s, said he would “continue to battle to ensure that justice is done”.

Writing in the Scottish Mail on Sunday, he said: “His death came a day before I was due to meet with him to discuss the next round in dealing with both the Scottish Government’s malevolent actions against him and the failure of the rule of law in Scotland.”

Ms Cherry said the former first minister was a “loyal friend and an immensely supportive colleague, and somebody who always offered tremendous leadership and political strategic nous”.

She said: “What Alex had as a politician - and I’ve said that he was one of the finest politicians of his generation and the finest first minister we’ve had to date - was as well as being a strong leader, he had an ability to reach out to people who disagreed with him. That’s why he had so many cross-party friendships.

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“And also, when he was first minister, he didn’t just surround himself with those who agreed with him on everything. He wasn’t afraid to have people in his cabinet who had perhaps been his political adversaries within the party in the past. He had a hinterland beyond politics, unlike many modern politicians.”

Mr Aberdein, who was chief of staff to Mr Salmond between 2011 and 2014, said his former boss had shaped the person he is today.

He said: “I was in the room when he did his resignation speech, and he said that the dream of independence shall not die. It’s not dead, and it’s not dead because of the work of Alex Salmond, and it’s for others now to ensure it stays alive.”

Earlier, actor Brian Cox said Mr Salmond was “one of the greatest political thinkers” the British Isles ever produced.

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The Succession actor, who was friends with Mr Salmond, told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme the former first minister was “a lot of fun”.

He added: “He was very entertaining. He had great humanity, he was probably, I think, one of the greatest political thinkers, certainly Scotland has ever produced, and I think possibly these islands have ever produced.

“He was an extraordinary man. I think his essential appeal was his humanity and how he came across to other people.”

Mr Cox said when he first met Mr Salmond he was a disillusioned Labour supporter. “I felt the one place where social democracy was happening was back in my own country, so I suddenly had to rethink my own feelings and Alex enabled me to do that,” he added.

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