Britain | Sturgeon at bay

The fallout from Alex Salmond’s trial will damage the SNP

Splits between fundamentalists and gradualists are growing wider

|EDINBURGH

JUST A FEW years ago, in 2014, he came within a whisker of realising his dream of leading Scotland out of the United Kingdom. The former leader of the Scottish National Party, Alex Salmond, transformed the politics of his homeland, dragging the SNP from the fringes to the centre-ground, from where it now dominates elections to both the Westminster and the Edinburgh parliaments. Today, Mr Salmond’s public appearances are from the dock at Edinburgh’s High Court, where he is on trial in a series of sexual-offence charges. The trial, which began on March 9th, is expected to last for four weeks.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Sturgeon at bay”

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