HOW did it begin, where is it going, does it have an end? Such were the questions Professor Stephen Hawking asked about the universe. Lesser mortals have sometimes wondered the same things about that other giant, pulsating, mass of energy known as Alex Salmond’s self-regard.

It has been a tense 10 days since the attempted double murder in Salisbury of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. First the shock and horror at the use of a military-grade nerve agent on UK streets. Statements at Westminister. The EU, America, and Nato weighing in. Now over to Alex Salmond, host of The Alex Salmond Show on RT, the former Russia Today. What say you, Mr Salmond?

“I shall be addressing the developing crisis on Thursday, so watch the show to find out what I think.”

READ MORE: Kremlin TV welcomes "common sense" as Alex Salmond Show goes ahead

Talk about “the big I am”. Are ratings so bad for his show he has to use the events in Salisbury to boost them? Perhaps the former First Minister was in a state of shock at being called a “useful idiot”. A charge of idiocy, even the exotic kind, has to hurt any time, but when the gibe comes from a Liberal Democrat MSP (in this case Alex Cole-Hamilton) the wound must be all the more painful, like being called vain by Donald Trump.

If he does get record ratings today, Mr Salmond should put them to good use and announce he is saying cheerio to the Russian Federation-funded RT. What choice does he now have?

On Monday, Prime Minister Theresa May said there could be two possible explanations for the Salisbury poisonings. Either it was a direct act by the Russian state, or Russia had lost control of the nerve agent, thus allowing others to use it.

Yesterday, with Russia having offered no “credible” explanation by the midnight deadline, Mrs May said: “There is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of Mr Skripal and his daughter – and for threatening the lives of other British citizens in Salisbury, including Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey. This represents an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom.”

In response, 23 Russian diplomats will be expelled, high level diplomatic contact will be suspended, the royals will not be going to the World Cup, and there will be new legislative powers to stop Russians entering the country in certain circumstances. The Russians have condemned the UK moves as “unacceptable, unjustified and short-sighted”.

Mrs May is unable to go further without international support, which she is continuing to cultivate. It remains to be seen how Russia will respond, other than the tit for tat expulsions of British diplomats. The fast-moving nature of the situation is one reason among many why Mr Salmond should be steering clear of the Kremlin-backed RT.

READ MORE: Kremlin TV welcomes "common sense" as Alex Salmond Show goes ahead

Even if one believes that the Salisbury poisonings were not carried out on the orders of the Kremlin there remains the possibility that the perpetrator took it upon themselves to act on the Russian state’s behalf. Russia has long acted like a gangster state, but now it looks like the gangsters are even more in the ascendant. Viewed in this light, the Salisbury poisonings begin to look like a perverse way of boosting the brand of Russia Inc abroad. Do not mess with this Russian regime is the message, because in doing so you put at risk our investments and future earnings. Putin could bring a halt to any such freelancing with the mere raise of an eyebrow. That he does not speaks to the supreme indifference with which he regards the West’s disapproval.

It is not of course solely up to Mr Salmond whether his show on RT carries on. Ofcom, the independent broadcast regulator, is already on the station’s case. Ofcom has a duty to be satisfied that broadcasters are “fit and proper” to hold their licences. Given who finances the station, and what the PM said yesterday, it is impossible to see how RT meets that criteria.

Relations between the UK and Russia are at their lowest point since the Cold War. The former First Minister’s decision to host a show on RT has been controversial from the off. If he stays he runs the risk of becoming further isolated from mainstream opinion. As the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, his own party leader, said yesterday: “Russia cannot unlawfully kill/attempt to kill on our streets with impunity.” The SNP, in common with other parties, advises its elected members not to appear on the station. Why does Mr Salmond reckon he knows better than any of these people?

READ MORE: Kremlin TV welcomes "common sense" as Alex Salmond Show goes ahead

Being a busy broadcasting bee, he may have already given a preview of what he will say today, but let us hope not. On his LBC show on Sunday, in response to a listener urging him to have nothing to do with RT because it was funded by the Russian Government, Mr Salmond said that was like saying a person “won’t appear on the BBC because the British Government are selling arms to Saudi Arabia, and bombing helpless people in the Yemen, as the Saudi Arabians are”.

That is quite a stretch of logic. If Mr Salmond really needs to look for reasons to quit RT there are plenty available to him. A good starting point is Amnesty International’s 2017/18 report on the Russian Federation. Among the many concerns it lists are the Russian Government’s crackdowns on freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

Or how about the harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders. Or the persecution of religious minorities, the persistence of torture, the decriminalisation of some forms of domestic violence, discrimination against and violence towards LGBTI people, and so on? Last time I checked, the UK Government was not doing any of that.

As his successor as First Minister has shown, there is no place for equivocation when it comes to what happened in Salisbury. It has to be condemned utterly. One cannot do that and continue to appear on a station funded by the very government that is being condemned.