HUMZA Yousaf should not have allowed the Stone of Destiny to be moved to London, Alex Salmond has said.
The former SNP First Minister, who now leads the Alba Party, suggested Mr Yousaf should only have agreed for the historic object to be removed from Scotland if the UK Government consented to a second referendum on independence.
King Charles is to sit on his throne over the top of the 125kg sandstone slab at his coronation ceremony on Saturday at Westminster Abbey as his mother Queen Elizabeth did when she was crowned in 1953.
Writing in a newspaper today Mr Salmond noted that the stone was returned to Scotland in 1995 "by a Tory Government panicked by the rise of renewed national sentiment".
READ MORE: Scots backlash over plan to ask Britons to swear allegiance to King
"And so it has been kept in Edinburgh Castle ever since, until last Thursday when it was ceremoniously taken back south to be used in the Charles 111 Coronation, with the new First Minister parading dutifully behind it like a pet poodle," he said in the Sunday Mail article.
"In truth Humza Yousaf missed a great opportunity. Scotland’s national rights are currently being denied by Westminster. The stone is a symbol of exactly that - Scotland’s national rights.
"Yousaf should have politely but firmly refused to send it back until Scotland’s entitlement to self-determination was recognised by London.
"Such a stand would have ensured world wide publicity and perhaps turned a corner in his brief, crisis ridden, First Ministership."
🔴 Save on a full year of digital access with our lowest EVER offer.
Subscribe for the whole year to The Herald for only £24 for unlimited website access or £30 for our digital pack.
This is only available for a limited time so don't miss out.
Mr Salmond also said that the new King has also missed his chance "to be King of Scots" and had a separate coronation ceremony in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.
"He could have demonstrated a belief in Scotland having equal status as a country by insisting on a separate Scottish Coronation....Indeed the English Coronation itself is being greeted with growing indifference. Few people think that next Saturday’s full blown £100,000,000 extravaganza is justified when millions of the King’s subjects can’t heat their homes or put enough food on the table.
"In Scotland in particular the sound of silence is deafening. Most Scots now back an elected head of state for an independent country and many people, including myself, will find better things to do next weekend than watching the British establishment on parade."
The stone was used to inaugurate Scottish royalty for centuries, before being removed from the country by King Edward I in 1296. It was returned 700 years later.
It was used to inaugurate Scottish royalty for centuries, before being removed from the country by King Edward I in 1296.
Historic Environment Scotland, which looks after Edinburgh Castle and hundreds of other important sites and buildings north of the border, said last year the stone would be moved to London before returning north of the border after the coronation.
Mr Yousaf said last week he would be making sure the stone was returned to Scotland.
The Dean of Westminster on Saturday paid tribute to England and Scotland's "deep friendship" at a service to mark the arrival of the Stone of Destiny, also known as the Stone of Scone, ahead of the coronation.
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