The mass resignation of senior Labour MPs over Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party is a "disgusting, organised coup", Alex Salmond has said.
The former first minister of Scotland said he had sympathy for Mr Corbyn after two-thirds of his shadow cabinet quit and a raft of junior frontbenchers stepped down following last week's Brexit vote.
READ MORE: Scotland will become an independent country after shock Brexit result, Alex Salmond predicts
Speaking in Westminster, Mr Salmond said: "I find it depressing to see people that he appointed, most of whom the public have never heard of, stabbing him in the back.
"I find that is a debilitating sight, and personally I hope he sticks it out and is vindicated, because I've never seen such a disgusting, organised coup.
"On the hour, every hour, one of them resigns, and if they think the general public finds that impressive I think they've got another think coming.
"I can't help but have a good deal of sympathy for Jeremy Corbyn and some contempt for the tactics of those who he appointed, who now feel free to stab him in the back."
READ MORE: Scotland will become an independent country after shock Brexit result, Alex Salmond predicts
Mr Salmond also warned that Brexiteers would face the wrath of the public if referendum pledges, including reducing immigration, were not kept.
He said: "When they see the damage done - that the Prime Minister, who was forecasting Armageddon, is now describing as an 'adjustment' - and when that hits real people, real jobs, real investment, then there's going to be one horrible reckoning for the Brexiteers - Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Ukip among them.
"I think it is extraordinary, the amount of damage done by politicians who quite clearly had no expectation of winning and therefore hadn't done the work to bring together a plan of what to do once they've won.
"This is a group of politicians having won a referendum who now have no idea what to do - and when the public realise that, the wrath of the people is going to be something to see.
"I think the Brexiteers have to recognise that they've broken it, so now they own it, and take responsibility for what they have done."
READ MORE: Scotland will become an independent country after shock Brexit result, Alex Salmond predicts
Mr Salmond praised Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for stepping into a leadership void following David Cameron's resignation announcement, the crisis of confidence in Mr Corbyn, and leading Brexit figures seeming to "have no idea what to do".
Ms Sturgeon is speaking to the chief minister of Gibraltar this week to forge pro-EU alliances with the UK areas that now face being "ripped out of the EU against our will".
Scotland would not be "dragged out of Europe" against its population's wishes, Mr Salmond said, adding: "Anybody in this place who thinks that's going to happen had better think again."
"If it turns out at the end of the day the choice is for the people of Scotland between London and Europe, I think the majority will choose Europe," he warned.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel