Final plans now in place for Alex Salmond to be flown home

Alex Salmond’s body is ready to be flown home to Scotland in a ‘special flight’, according to North Macedonian officials.

Talks were continuing last night about final arrangements for repatriating the body of the former First Minister back to Scotland.

Officials in the North Macedonian government said ‘technical work’ has been completed to allow for repatriation to go ahead.

The Scottish Government is expected to confirm plans for a flight to take the body back to Aberdeen Airport imminently.

But it remained unclear whether the flight will be paid for by the Scottish Government or the Foreign Office.

It is now unlikely that a Royal Air Force jet will bring the body back, amid reports the cost could be £600,000.

Boris Josifovski, who works for former North Macedonian president Gjorge Ivanov, said that paperwork was “nearly finished” on Monday and that a special flight would likely take off from the city of Ohrid in the country’s south west.

He added: ‘There will be a special flight in the next few days, probably from Ohrid.’

The Scottish Government said it has been in ‘regular dialogue’ with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) since Saturday ‘to ensure full support is in place for the family and around the repatriation of the former First Minister’.

Sources said discussions have been made more complex because it is ‘unprecedented’ for a former First Minister of a devolved administration to die overseas, so it remains unclear who should take the lead in making arrangements and covering the costs.

The FCDO has said that it is ‘supporting the family of Alex Salmond, former First Minister of Scotland, who died in North Macedonia on Saturday’ and ‘is in touch with the local authorities’.

According to reports in the Times, it would cost £600,000 to bring the body back in an RAF plane, and the Scottish Government is instead considering paying for a private plane because it would cost substantially less.

The RAF also normally only repatriates the bodies of members of the Royal Family.

Mr Salmond died on Saturday after collapsing at a lunch event connected to the Ohrid Cultural Diplomacy Forum in North Macedonia.

Chris McEleny, the general secretary of the Alba Party, said talks had been ongoing about using the RAF to bring Mr Salmond’s body back to Scotland, despite this normally only being reserved for members of the Royal Family.

He told Talk TV: ‘Conventions are conventions, until they’re not conventions.

‘He was the former first minister of Scotland, we’re talking about the office here.

‘There’s clearly an outpouring of love and hurt in Scotland for Alex, his family obviously need to get him home.’

He added: ‘I just want to get him home as quickly as possible so that we can move on to, instead of talking about the manner in which he died, start talking about the manner in which he lived.’

Condolences were also sent to First Minister John Swinney from the Prince of Monaco, Albert II, who described Mr Salmond as “a leader of deep conviction and unwavering dedication”, according to the Monaco Tribune.

Members of the public have been signing a book of condolence in the Scottish Parliament.

In addition, the Alba Party has opened an online book of condolence for the former First Minister.

An Alba spokesman said: ‘We continue to receive messages from across Scotland and the world from people mourning the loss of the former First Minister and our party leader.

‘We hope this will allow them to in their own words express their personal condolences.’