ALEX Salmond said “Scotland is a country not a county” in his final public words before his death.
The former First Minister, 69, died suddenly yesterday of a suspected heart attack while at a conference in North Macedonia.
The political supremo, who led Scotland for seven years as FM, fell ill after having lunch at the conference as medics desperately fought to save his life.
Salmond was a lifelong independence campaigner, and never stopped in his fight to see Scotland go it alone.
And he publicly called out SNP leader John Swinney in a scathing tweet just hours before he died.
He accused the Nats chief of accepting “regional status” for Scotland when he met with PM Sir Keir Starmer at the first Council of Nations and Regions in Edinburgh on Friday.
The political leader also took a swipe at the decision to end the Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners.
His final message was posted in a series of tweets posted to X, formerly Twitter, just three hours before he died.
They read: “Tony Blair used to whine that he never really compared the Scottish Parliament to an “English Parish Council”, it was only the nasty Scottish press who twisted his remarks! In fact, he did so compare.
“Similarly, there is little point in John Swinney complaining that his attendance at the grandly titled Council of the Nations and Regions doesn’t carry a perception of a regional status for the nation of Scotland – it does deliver that status.
“Of course the First Minister has the right to insist on bilateral JMC meetings with the Prime Minister.
“I am not sure in which world that correct business approach includes a convivial group selfie with the political opponent who is freezing Scots pensioners.
“If John or his advisers had read Gordon Brown’s original proposal for this Council, then they would have realised that this wasn’t some ad hoc reset meeting, but part of a plan to pull any independence teeth from devolution.
“It is designed to diminish the status of our Parliament and the First Minister. Part of becoming independent is about thinking independently, not subserviently.
“John should have politely declined the meeting with the words “Scotland is a country not a county”.”
Despite the final swipe, Mr Swinney paid tribute to his former colleague.
He said: “I am deeply shocked and saddened at the untimely death of the former First Minister Alex Salmond and I extend my deepest condolences to Alex’s wife Moira and to his family.
“Alex worked tirelessly and fought fearlessly for the country that he loved and for her Independence.
“He took the Scottish National Party from the fringes of Scottish politics into Government and led Scotland so close to becoming an Independent country.
“Scotland is a country not a county.”
Alex Salmond in his final tweet just hours before his death
“There will be much more opportunity to reflect in the coming days, but today all of our thoughts are with Alex’s family, and his many friends and right across the political spectrum.”
Figures from across Scotland and the political world paid tribute to the Alba Party leader following his tragic death.
King Charles, Mr Swinney and Sir Keir Starmer led tributes to the political heavyweight after the tragic news.
BY CHRIS MUSSON, Associate Editor (Politics)
ALEX Salmond was still going at 110mph, right until the very end.
I last saw him a month ago when he came into the Scottish Sun offices for an interview to mark a decade since the independence referendum.
He was utterly bullish, as ever. Determined, incisive, funny, pugnacious.
He was as sharp as a tack. A man still following every last twist and turn of politics, in Scotland and beyond.
When I started my weekly column for the Scottish Sun earlier this year, I told readers I wanted to hear from them.
Salmond was the first person to email me after my debut piece, which had been about the past decade of “madness”, as I put it, and how it had been unhealthy for Scotland “I don’t fully agree with your analysis,” Salmond told me. I’ll take that, I thought.
But that interview we did just over a month ago was a walk in the park for Salmond.
Nothing got past him, and he was prepared for every question I put to him. He even had a plug ready for his 2026 Holyrood election strategy.
The interview was on camera and as a final question, I asked if he’d retire if failed to win a seat in two years’ time.
His response was first-class – not quite giving a straight answer, but colourful enough to draw a line under the issue.
“Oh, I intend to lead Alba into the Scottish Parliament in 2026. That’s my full intention,” he said.
“And if that doesn’t work, then I’ll probably go back to grabbing the family season ticket at Tynecastle, and hope by then we’re in a vein of form.”
After he ended, he delivered a signature chortle, then held a smile for the camera until we cut.
We exchanged gossip afterwards and as I walked him to reception he quipped “I hope you got some of what you wanted, there.”
Clocking the security guard had recognised him, he made a beeline for the guy, shook his hand and said a quick hello.
After Salmond gone, I said to the security guard: “You a fan?”
“Nah – not my politics,” he said, but added: “He seems a nice chap, though.”
And that was Salmond through and through. He liked to be liked, and – in his heyday, especially – he was great at it.
I remember thinking as he left: What a pro.
I also remember thinking that he did not look well. He was struggling with his walking, and had put on a lot of weight in recent years.
But he just kept going. He still had much to prove, after a decade of enormous upheaval for him.
Salmond thrived on popularity. He was a political animal – but wounded, damaged beyond repair, I think, by the infamous allegations against him and his own, self-confessed shortcomings.
People would often ask: Why doesn’t he just retire? But, that just wasn’t him. He would have to be made to stop.
Salmond still felt he had scores to settle – with the Scottish Government, with his foes in the SNP.
He so desperately wanted to get out from under that cloud that’s hung over him in recent years. To regain that popularity he once had.
That won’t happen now, of course. The fight is over for Salmond. But say what you want about him – he never gave up.
Former FM Nicola Sturgeon paid tribute to Alex Salmond, calling him her “mentor”.
The pair were close political allies for several decades but had a major falling out after allegations of sexual harassment were made against Mr Salmond in 2018.
Alex Salmond leaves a legacy as one of the biggest figures in UK politics, spending decades in public service.
In one of his final interviews, he revealed one of his biggest regrets of his political career.
He made the admission while speaking to The Scottish Sun about last month’s tenth anniversary of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.
