Inside Politics: Alex Salmond ready to reveal his ‘conspiracy’ claims

As the former SNP leader finally gives his testimony, current boss Nicola Sturgeon faces new allegations she broke the ministerial code, writes Adam Forrest

Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon in 2013. (Getty Images)

Is it worth raking over the past for a bit of drama? We have the first photos of Kenneth Branagh playing Boris Johnson for This Sceptred Isle, a series which will look back at the PM’s initial response to the Covid crisis. Fortunately for Johnson, the Branagh drama doesn’t come out until 2022, which gives him a bit of breathing space. There’s no breathing space for Nicola Sturgeon right now. The political drama in Scotland reaches fever pitch today, as Alex Salmond finally gets the chance to rake over the past in great detail at the Scottish parliamentary inquiry.

Inside the bubble

Political editor Andrew Woodcock on what to look out for today:

Attention shifts to the Holyrood committee where Alex Salmond will answer questions on the scandal convulsing Scottish politics. At 12.30pm, he will be grilled for up to four hours about his allegations of a conspiracy to oust him from public life. Meanwhile, Matt Hancock is set to lead a press conference later confirming the next stage of vaccine prioritisation.

Daily briefing

SWISS BLISS? Some encouraging news on Brexit, at last. The EU would be willing to consider a bilateral veterinary agreement with the UK to ease some of the Irish Sea trade barriers. EU Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic told RTE an agreement on food safety and animal health standards was possible. “We would be ready to discuss [the issue] ... what can we do to find a solution?” Brussels is thought to prefer a Swiss-style agreement, with the UK largely aligning itself to the EU safety standards. But Downing Street would prefer a New Zealand-style deal, where both sides acknowledge each other’s standards as “equivalent”. No 10 rejected the proposal by Tory MPs in the ERG to ditch the protocol, saying both sides would work through “outstanding problems”. Things are turning more outstandingly problematic in Northern Ireland, however. DUP leader Arlene Foster met a representative group for loyalist paramilitaries – including the UVF, UDA and Red Hand Commando – to discuss their shared loathing of the protocol.

WAITING ON A FRIEND: The Joe Biden administration has dashed Boris Johnson’s hopes of a quick post-Brexit US-UK trade deal. Katherine Tai, Biden’s pick to be his trade envoy, slammed the brakes on the talks – announcing a “review” of the negotiations that would take in all of the big “developments” since they began in 2018. David Cameron has had some big thoughts on Brexit for a US audience. The former PM told CNN that the disruptions of the past two months were not merely “teething problems”. Cameron said trade problems were the inevitable result of the decision “to become a third country” (thanks Dave – you may have had a bit to do with that decision). Former Cameron minister Amber Rudd also piped up on Brexit, warning that her party was no longer a place for pro-Europeans. “The Conservative party used to be a place where you could have pro and anti-Europeans ... Now there is no place for pro-European Conservatives.”

TALKING FOR SCOTLAND: A very big day in the Alex Salmond inquiry. The man at the centre of the storm will give four hours (!) of testimony to the committee this afternoon. Salmond, who can talk the hind legs off a Highland cow, will have no trouble filling the time. Nicola Sturgeon, who doesn’t get to put her side of the story over until Wednesday, is not having the easiest time of it. Salmond loyalist Jim Sillars, former deputy SNP leader, has accused her of breaching the ministerial code with comments she made on Wednesday. She suggested that just because Salmond had been cleared of criminality, “that doesn’t mean that the behaviour [women] complained of didn’t happen”. Sillars is claiming she had “egregiously questioned the verdict of a jury” in the criminal case against Salmond. Sturgeon was also forced to deny allegations that the name of a woman who complained about Salmond was passed to him during the Scottish government’s investigation.

TRANS-EUROPE ACCESS: Momentum builds behind vaccine passports. EU leaders have agreed to introduce some form of immunity certification for travel by the summer. “Everyone agreed that we need a digital vaccination certificate,” said German chancellor Angela Merkel after a virtual summit. “This will make travelling within the EU possible and could pave the way for further travel from third countries.” Boris Johnson is keeping quiet on vaccine passports, but he defended the lockdown easing roadmap – insisting there was no wiggle room to bring dates forward. “I think it’s very important to have a timetable that is sensible, that is cautious.” The PM also defended plans for teachers to grade GCSE and A-level pupils as a “good compromise”. Asked if he had confidence in Gavin Williamson amid speculation the education secretary will be moved in an upcoming reshuffle, Johnson said: “Of course.” There are growing fears about inconsistent marking, however. Education committee chief Robert Halfon suggested a “Wild West of grading” was a possibility.

TAXMAN’S TAKEN ALL MY DOUGH? Rishi Sunak is expected to call for “honesty” about the need to bring down spending in his Budget speech next week. But the guessing game over possible tax rises continues. The chancellor has been warned against any hikes by five cabinet ministers, according to The Telegraph this morning. One minister told the paper: “Now is not the time”. Another said (rather strangely): “Treasury often plays its familiar tunes. It doesn’t mean I’ll dance.” The Times says Sunak is drawing up plans for a “stealth tax” on wealthy pensioners via a freeze on the amount they can build up in their pension pot. The i paper says the chancellor is set to skip over any announcement on pay rises for NHS staff. Meanwhile, No 10 has rejected the idea that Boris Johnson is a “populist” after former Tory chancellor Philip Hammond insulted the PM with the term. “I don’t recognise Philip Hammond’s description,” said Johnson’s spokesperson.

FIRST STRIKE: Joe Biden signed off on an airstrike in Syria that targeted a structure believed to belong to an Iran-backed militia, according to Reuters – his first military action as president. Tensions are flaring at home too, as US Capitol Police believe militia groups want to “blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible” during Biden’s state of the union address. It comes as it emerged that Biden has spoken with King Salman of Saudi Arabia ahead of the release of a US intelligence report that is expected to reveal that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. A White House report of the phone call did not disclose whether the US president discussed the findings in the report, but Biden “noted positively” the release of several Saudi-American activists. The pair agreed to work on “mutual issues of concern and interest”.

On the record

“I hope they [the government] can tackle as many of these problems as possible but … some of them are because we chose to leave the single market and become a third country.”

David Cameron on inevitability of economic problems caused by Brexit.

From the Twitterati

“The ERG says the Brexit deal they supported to “Get Brexit Done” is now “destroying the UK”. This is real life. You’re not hallucinating.”

Femi Oluwole on the ERG’s opposition to the protocol.

“The danger is they just keep going through prime ministers, in search of The One, pure enough to find True Magical Brexit, while the country suffers their delusion.”

…and Alex Andreou suggests the ERG will keep causing Johnson problems.

Essential reading

Tom Peck, The Independent: Brexit looms larger over Scottish independence than Salmond-Sturgeon row

Eric Lewis, The Independent: Trump is about to become a prisoner of Mar-a-Lago

Gaby Hinsliff, The Guardian: No jab, no jab – the moral minefield confronting the government

James Forsyth, The Spectator: Too much good news could spell trouble for Boris

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