Salmond’s body to be brought home on private flight

A private individual is paying for a charter flight to bring Alex Salmond’s body back to Scotland from North Macedonia.

The former first minister died suddenly from a heart attack in the Balkan country on Saturday at the age of 69.

There had been calls for an RAF flight to repatriate his body, but it is now confirmed a private charter flight – paid for independently – will fly to Aberdeen.

A private family funeral will be held for the Alba Party leader, followed by a public memorial event at a later date.

No timeline for Salmond’s repatriation has been publicly announced but the Alba Party said details would be made available in due course.

Acting Alba Party leader Kenny MacAskill said Salmond’s family were “grateful” to the private citizen who had chartered the flight.

He said: “It brings a great deal of comfort to Moira and other members of the family to know that he will soon be home with them.

“The family have asked that their privacy be respected at this time and will be making an announcement in due course about the funeral arrangements and a memorial service to honour the life of Alex Salmond.”

The statement also thanked the North Macedonian government for expediting the process of releasing his body and both the Scottish and UK governments for their “endeavours” to put plans in place.

The Scottish government said it had been a “complex” process.

A spokesperson said: “Over the last few days the Scottish government and UK government have been engaging with Alex Salmond‘s family and working closely together in accordance with their wishes, to ensure the swift and dignified repatriation of the former first minister to Scotland.

“Having explored a number of options, the family have now made arrangements for this to take place with the support of a private citizen.”

Friends of Salmond, including the Conservative MP David Davis, had been lobbying the UK government to allow the RAF to fly his body to Scotland.

Such arrangements are usually reserved for members of the Royal Family.

Chris McEleny, general secretary of the Alba Party, had called on the UK government to allow Salmond’s body to be flown directly back to Scotland as it would be quicker than using a commercial flight.

He told BBC Scotland’s Drivetime programme: “For all that he’s done for Scotland, I think it’s the least that we can do for him.”

Salmond had been attending an Academy for Cultural Diplomacy (ACD) event in Ohrid on Saturday when he took unwell.

ACD director Mark Donfried said he had returned to North Macedonia from his home in Germany to help ensure Salmond was repatriated as soon as possible.

He told BBC Scotland News: “I was taught as a I grew up you don’t leave any man behind and, here, I definitely feel a responsibility to make sure that everything goes perfectly with the highest level of respect.”

Tributes have been paid to former SNP leader Salmond from across the political spectrum in recent days.

During Prime Ministers’ Questions, Sir Keir Starmer described him as a “monumental figure in Scottish and UK politics”.

Tory leader Rishi Sunak and Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey also paid tribute in the Commons.

Scotland football fans held a minute’s applause before Tuesday’s match against Portugal at Hampden.