Skilful Salmond returns to Westminster as the political assassin

After an absence of nearly three months, Scotland's Nationalist First Minister swept into the most British of institutions - Buckingham Palace and the House of Commons - with a sense of ownership.

He started the day with more compliments for his new friend Gordon Brown than a British naval officer returning from Iran with a goody bag. And he ended it with remarks in the Commons that threatened to end the fragile "special relationship".

In the morning, Mr Salmond was all smiles, having managed to procure the regal rooms of Dover House for a press briefing.

Those looking for a sideswipe from the First Minister targeting his political opponents from south of the Border were left disappointed. He even described the London Olympics as "marvellous", while emphasising his "legitimate concerns" over its funding.

Mr Salmond looked wounded when he told journalists he was wrongly branded as someone attempting to stoke up rows with Westminster. And he insisted he was keen to co-operate with the Prime Minister.

But only hours later, Mr Salmond was prepared to let him have it with both barrels - claiming Mr Brown should forget ramming his caricature of Britishness down the throats of Scots.

But, of course, he did not put it quite this way. Instead, he suggested Mr Brown was "out of date" in trying to impose a contrived British identity on Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Yesterday morning, Mr Salmond told journalists of the new era of co-operation with the new Prime Minister.

"Relations were a bit more tense with the previous Prime Minister. I could not get him to speak to me at all," said Mr Salmond, whose party triggered the cash-for-honours police investigation which threatened to bankrupt the Labour Party and led to the arrest of Tony Blair's closest aides.

Mr Salmond yesterday had his fifth meeting with the Queen since becoming First Minister - this time to be sworn in as a Privy Councillor. Had they run out of small talk?

Aware of the protocol which insists that you must not reveal details of your conversations with the monarch, Mr Salmond said: "Put it this way, we haven't even started on horse racing yet."

Mr Salmond's special adviser later handed out a poll showing how the First Minister was "marginally" more popular than Mr Brown.

The survey had been conducted on 27 June, the day Mr Brown became Prime Minister, so sceptics might point out it hardly gave him a chance to make an impression on the electorate.

Mr Salmond made his first visit to the Commons' benches as Scotland's First Minister around lunchtime, just before Mr Brown's statement on counter-terrorism strategy. He patiently waited to be called by the Speaker, popping up marginally faster than the Rev Ian Paisley - the First Minister for Northern Ireland - behind him.

Would he point out the Prime Minister's plans for a unified border force came with no cash or extra staff? Or would he ask about the consequences for Scotland? Perhaps he would reassert the libertarian case for no extension of detention without trial?

Instead, he started his question by praising the Scottish authorities for securing the "early apprehension of those suspected of planning and carrying through the terrorist attempts in Glasgow and in London".

Spectators braced themselves for the infamous "Smart Alec Whack", but Mr Salmond simply asked if there could be a role for the resumption of the joint ministerial committees between law officers and justice ministers "north and south of the Border" in seeking to contribute to the consensus on fighting terrorism.

Even if Mr Brown wanted to land a punch, he kept his clunking fist firmly by his side. "We want to co-operate in future on all the issues that you have talked about," he cooed.

Mr Salmond sat patiently through a statement on aircraft carriers before rushing to a lunch for loyal staff at Portcullis House. Those close to him said he was "upbeat" before meeting the Queen to be sworn in as a Privy Councillor, taking his place alongside other great and good in the Establishment.

Plans for drinks with his MPs hung in the balance because of the late running of the debate on constitutional affairs. For the "transformed" Mr Salmond would prefer to talk about institutions rather than impeachment.

But no-one was left under any illusion that he would stop being a thistle in the Prime Minister's side.

Warning on Brown's 'Britishness' in a historic statement

GORDON Brown should stop pushing for a contrived "Britishness" and instead face up to the political reality of a resurgent Scottish identity, Alex Salmond, the First Minister, said yesterday.

On his first visit to the House of Commons since becoming First Minister, Mr Salmond pointed to the new political landscape in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and said it was "out of touch" for the government to promote Britishness.

His comments - released in a statement ahead of a speech he was due to deliver in the House of Commons last night - were a dig at the proposals to celebrate Britishness and moves to fly the Union flag from all government buildings.

Mr Salmond also warned that there would be an end to the informal relationship that had existed between Westminster and the Labour-run Scottish Executive. Instead, the formal joint ministerial committees should be resumed to become the "engine for co-operation".

Making history as the first First Minister of Scotland to speak in the Commons, Mr Salmond welcomed Mr Brown's attempt to re-engage citizens with the democratic process.

But firing a shot across the bows of the government, he added: "Pursuing Britishness at the very time that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are exploring new avenues of national expression and government is out of touch and out of date.

"The Prime Minister should be changing the structures to match the people's attitudes not attempting to change the people's attitudes to match the structures."

These institutions had to reflect the "new political realities in these isles".

• Alex Salmond is still claiming expenses for his London rent, he confirmed. The First Minister has served notice on his rented Pimlico flat, which he will surrender in September.