Of course, it’s safer to castigate a man for his moral flaws after he’s safely gone. You know there can be no prospect of ever having contact with him again. It’s in this context that we must view some of the more vindictive commentary that followed the death of Alex Salmond.

Some of us who had known and admired Mr Salmond prior to his acquittal on all 13 charges of misconduct in 2020 nevertheless felt ethically obliged immediately afterwards to express anger at elements of his behaviour while in high public office. It simply needed to be said and that was the time to say it. It led to a couple of testy conversations with the man afterwards and then it was done.

Part of our anger was rooted in the realisation that his flaws had provided the chance for a cast of opportunists lurking in the SNP to bring him down. Their actions have since been found to have been questionable and tainted by bias. Some of their media glove-puppets cheered them on.

Nicola Sturgeon gives evidence to a Scottish Parliament committee examining the handling of harassment allegations against former first minister Alex Salmond Nicola Sturgeon gives evidence to a Scottish Parliament committee examining the handling of harassment allegations against former first minister Alex Salmond (Image: JEFF J MITCHELL) There are currently civil and criminal investigations ongoing into the conduct of senior civil servants and some politicians over the course of the sprawling, multi-million-pound police investigation of Mr Salmond that occurred between 2018 and 2020.

Meanwhile, David Hamilton, Scotland's information commissioner has fiercely criticised the Scottish Government for its desperate three-year legal battle against releasing documents relating to Nicola Sturgeon's conduct during the Alex Salmond inquiry. What are they hiding and why does it terrify them to the extent that they would spend tens of thousands in public money seeking to keep it hidden?

Mr Hamilton said ministers had “significantly delayed and frustrated” the “right to access information”. He has been granted that right by the people of Scotland in whose best interests the SNP government are supposed to act.

It’s probably irresponsible at this stage to speak of ‘conspiracy’ being a major factor in events surrounding the old allegations against Mr Salmond. But it’s reasonable, I think, to suggest that two major investigations and using tens of thousands of public cash to thwart your own information commissioner exists within the same territory.

In both the private and the public realm, levels of guilt attaching to an individual get determined by extenuating and mitigating circumstances. We place our entire trust in a judge sitting before a jury of the accused’s peers to decide what degree of palliation – if any – should be applied before sentence is passed. It’s this process that permits us to think of ourselves as a ‘civilised’ country.

Your innocence, though, can’t be mitigated or measured. Yet, in Alex Salmond’s case, he could hardly have been shown to be more innocent of the charges brought against him.

We’re talking about a two-year investigation, hundreds of witness interviews, millions of pounds and 13 charges, several of which began to fall apart under the merest inquiry. And if you want to know what misconduct looks like, look no further than the Scottish Government.

READ MORE

They knowingly allowed female survivors of rape to be at further risk of trauma by the customs and practices of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre. We know this because of the damning conclusions of an Independent Review following the unfair dismissal of a female counsellor who believed rape survivors had a right to know the sex of staff dealing with their case.

And what do you think of a government which hands huge sums of taxpayers' money to organisations that have supported prescribing puberty-blockers to children, despite evidence that this might jeopardise their physical and psychological development? This is knowingly to risk the health and safety of very vulnerable people and it has happened on an industrial, sector-wide scale.

In the context of what is happening following the death of Alex Salmond, all of this is important. There are those who believe that, following Mr Salmond’s demise, some of those featuring in the cases pertaining to his court appearance can now breathe a little more easily. I’d say the opposite is more likely.

The huge outpouring of public grief for Mr Salmond could probably not have been envisioned by even his most fiercely loyal supporters. Along with this has come disgust and revulsion at the hypocrisy of those in the SNP who rushed to salute Mr Salmond even though they had betrayed him grievously and would have been happy at the prospect of him going to jail. It might not quite be in the realm of what happened to Brutus and Cassius, following the death of Julius Caesar, but you get the drift.

Along with this, further spotlight has been cast on the machinations featuring in the criminal and civil cases arising from Mr Salmond’s acquittal on all charges. This is the last thing the SNP leadership wanted: that the public at large might become informed that there are several investigations – one of them criminal – and that their government is spending a lot of money withholding information from them. This is the SNP’s worst nightmare.

Sir Keir Starmer speaks with the leaders of the 'nations and regions' in Edinburgh last weekSir Keir Starmer speaks with the leaders of the 'nations and regions' in Edinburgh last week (Image: PA) There are so many sad ironies following the passing of Alex Salmond. One of them is this: that while he was advancing Scotland’s cause at an international conference in North Macedonia, the political pygmies who have trashed the SNP and the cause of independence were merely accepting Scotland’s status as a county in the greater United Kingdom. If John Swinney and Humza Yousaf had appeared at this event, the delegates would probably think they were to hand out the sausage rolls.

This may also be an opportunity for the Alba Party to make an electoral breakthrough, though they really must sharpen up their internal governances. And I still think that the SNP’s malevolent clown-show in the Sturgeon/Yousaf/Swinney era has all but destroyed the work of Alex Salmond.

If the independence movement is to be saved, though, it will rest on the shoulders of such as Kenny MacAskill, Ash Regan, Chris McEleny and Joanna Cherry.

All of them are much more able and committed to independence than the semi-literate glove-puppets who make up ‘Honest’ John Swinney’s cabinet.

What is inescapable is that if Alex Salmond’s dream of independence is to remain alive then the current SNP leadership and all those who enjoy their vast patronage must be chased and must never be allowed to return. Having them still creeping about the offices of state would be too high a price to pay for our independence.

Kevin McKenna is a Herald writer and columnist. This year is his 40th in newspapers. Among his paltry list of professional achievements is that he’s never been approached by any political party or lobbying firm to be on their payroll