Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland and leader of the Alba Party, passed away on Saturday in North Macedonia at the age of 69. His death has led to calls for an RAF flight to repatriate his body, but it has since been confirmed that a private individual is paying for a charter flight to bring Salmond’s body back to Scotland, where a private family funeral will be held followed by a public memorial event at a later date.
There is no timeline for Salmond’s repatriation, but the Alba Party has said details will be made available in due course. Acting leader Kenny MacAskill expressed gratitude on behalf of the family towards the private citizen who had chartered the flight, stating that this 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 requested privacy at this time but will be announcing funeral arrangements and a memorial service in due course to honour the life of Alex Salmond.
Both the Scottish and UK governments were praised by the Alba Party for their “endeavours” to put repatriation plans in place, with the Scottish government stating that it had been a “complex” process. Friends of Salmond, including Conservative MP David Davis, had been lobbying the UK government to allow the RAF to fly his body to Scotland, but 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 on a commercial flight.
Tributes have been pouring in for Salmond from across the political spectrum. During Prime Ministers’ Questions, Sir Keir Starmer described him as a “monumental figure in Scottish and UK politics”. Salmond had been attending an Academy for Cultural Diplomacy event in North Macedonia when he took ill
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