AN SNP MSP has shared a video of one of Alex Salmond’s “best ever speeches” in tribute to the former first minister.
It comes as crowds turned out to pay their respects to Salmond after his body was returned to Scotland from North Macedonia.
He died from a heart attack while speaking at a conference in the city of Ohrid.
Writing on Twitter/X, SNP MSP for Edinburgh Northern & Leith Ben Macpherson shared a speech from Salmond on Scottish independence, saying he had been thinking about “all the times he inspired others in Scotland to walk taller & lifted spirits to believe that more could be achieved”.
Macpherson created a remix of a speech from Salmond (below) delivered 11 years ago in which he said: “We seek a country where we make work pay not by humiliating those with disabilities but by strengthening the minimum wage.
“We seek a country where key public services remain in public hands. We seek a country where business prospers but where the public are protected against the abuse of monopoly power.
“We seek a country where the right to health and education are based on human need and ability not on the size of your wallet.
“We seek a country which understands its contribution to culture and creativity as part of an international framework.
“And we seek a country which judges its contributions and how useful it can be to the rest of humanity not on how many warheads it can dance on a Trident submarine.”
Macpherson added: “The speech is aspirational (some may say idealistic) but a remarkable thing about #indyref was believing a fairer country and better world was achievable.
“I created this remix/video in 2013 as the words were very motivating and inspiring, especially when I heard AS deliver them live.
“I felt it was right to help share this superb, stirring speech back then - & I feel the same again now.
“RIP Mr Salmond & thank you for all the good you did for Scotland. You pushed our nation forward in a remarkable way &, since that time, now we undoubtedly walk taller.”
