here is a quote from john swinney.re have the prospects for scottish nationalism been as bright as they are today." now, that wasn't what you said when you became first minister. it wasn't what you said when you became leader of the snp, which you did 20 years ago before standing down for thejob. you said it in 1990 when you were national secretary. it's an awfully long time it's taken, isn't it? well, i wouldn't say that because if you take it, if i'm if those are those, those will be accurate. those will be accurate comments from 1990. by 1997, i was a member of the house of commons. now, again, if you'd said to me in 1979, within 18 years you will be a member of the house of commons, i would have said not a chance, because the prospects were so poor. so that comment in 1990 reflected, i think, a stage, a milestone in thejourney that we're on. and we've gone from being literally a fringe political party to, well, by 2007, the government of scotland, and have been continuously the government in scotland since then. ha

first ministerjohn swinney _ today. first ministerjohn swinney talking - today.t ministerjohn swinney talking to me i today. first ministerjohn - swinney talking to me earlier on. my next guest geoff aberdein — a good friend of mr salmond — who worked as his chief of staff for years. this is what he posted on x: let�*s speak to geoff aberdein — alex salmond�*s former chief of staff. emotional words from you. i know you were a close friend of alex salmond and we appreciate you joining us. tell me what he was like as a person. he you joining us. tell me what he was like as a person.— was like as a person. he was a fierce intellect _ was like as a person. he was a fierce intellect and _ was like as a person. he was a fierce intellect and extremely l fierce intellect and extremely charismatic politician. he was a hard task master, there is no getting away from it, but he never asked me to do anything he wasn�*t willing to do himself. that�*s how he led the country and that�*s how people in scotland should want their first minister to be. as i said in my tribute, i wa

and when you spoke to the first minister, john swinney, this morning, who is now the snp leader who workedhim for many, many years, despite the rift between him and the snp leadership in the last couple of years. and it really struck me that his most memorable, uh, it really struck me, he told us his abiding memory of alex salmond would not be the independence referendum in 2014. it would not be any of the huge things that they did in government, but it would be the moment when they actually were on their way to power for the first time. and he talked about the moment when he heard alex salmond on the radio when they'd just won the 2007 scottish election. i was driving to - edinburgh on the day after the 2007 election, - and i listened to him speaking on the radio when he'd arrived in edinburgh, l and he talked about how scotland had changed i and changed forever- and would never be the same again because of our| election win in 2007. and it was a deeply- emotional moment for me, because i heard my party leader at the time indicating _ that we had taken a colossal step i forward on ourjour

first ministerjohn swinney talking to me earlier on. to andy collier — a political commentator and former speechwriter to alex salmond. thank you so much for your time. many people are familiar with alex salmond as a political figure. with alex salmond as a politicalfigure. what with alex salmond as a political figure. what do you remember most about him as a person? remember most about him as a erson? remember most about him as a .erson? _ remember most about him as a erson? . , person? dare i say the lunches. i knew him _ person? dare i say the lunches. i knew him for— person? dare i say the lunches. i knew him for a _ person? dare i say the lunches. i knew him for a long _ person? dare i say the lunches. i knew him for a long time - person? dare i say the lunches. i knew him for a long time as i i knew him for a long time as you said. nearly a0 years, actually. i saw him grow from really not even being an mp to being first minister and taking scotland to the edge of independence. but he was a multifaceted character. intellectually he

are from scotland, who is able _ swinney are from scotland, who is able to — swinney are from scotlandinished form. like, we have — are any diminished form. like, we have got to recognise that. only— we have got to recognise that. only kemi has a plant of veneer the party— only kemi has a plant of veneer the party and reset who we are as an _ the party and reset who we are as an organisation and what we stand _ as an organisation and what we stand for. — as an organisation and what we stand for, and what we will be offering — stand for, and what we will be offering the british people. she is— offering the british people. she is light on her policies. in the conference she stumbled into a confusion about maternity pay.- into a confusion about maternity pay. into a confusion about materni -a . ~ . ., ., maternity pay. we are not going to reliuht maternity pay. we are not going to relight the — maternity pay. we are not going to relight the fire _ maternity pay. we are not going to relight the fire on _ maternity pay. we are not going to relight the fire on that. - to relight the fire on

we will be speaking to the current first minister of scotland, john swinney. also in this hour, kamala harris challenges her election rival donald trump to release his medical records to prove he is fit to become us president. and hot air balloons skies over new mexico at the international balloon fiesta. you join us us in israel with our continuing live coverage of the latest development in the middle east. let's start first with what has been happening in israel this morning. the israeli military says has fired at least five missiles into the northern city of high fat this morning, the third largest city in israel, where the air raid sirens went off. this came after a weekend where israelis marked yom kippur. israel says that has fired more than 300 missiles into israel over the weekend. those are the air raid sirens you hear now that went off. they have been going off almost every day as the city comes under almost daily attack. there have also been rockets fired in other parts of the north, including galilee. the israeli offensive continues in the north of

earlier i spoke to first minister of scotland, john swinney.im what he will remember most about alex salmond. he transformed the scottish national party from a party that was on the fringes of scottish politics to becoming the government of scotland. and then he took our country so incredibly close to scottish independence. i will remember him as a significant figure who transformed our politics and the opportunities for scotland to become an independent country. and, at this moment of his untimely death, i express my condolences to his wife, moira, and to his family at this very sad time. what was he like to work with personally? he was a driven individual. he had a very, you know, purposeful agenda that he was pursuing — whether that was about getting us to a position where we had greater electoral success, where we could win elections, and we won an election in 2007 for the first time under his leadership. so once we got into government, he was very driven about serving the people of scotland and about advancing the arguments of independence

john swinney is an incredibly capable man.nk with time he will prove to be an effective first minister, but he doesn't have a plan to drive independence forward and ambiguous voters. those are who are undecided and those who are not going to support the snp aren't going to change their mind now. it's appealing and encouraging and inspiring. his own support base. and if you remove independence from that, what are you left with? very much the status quo of the minute, which doesn't reflect well as we go into the next round of holyrood elections . round of holyrood elections. >> doddie aid alastair, good to see you. >> thank you. good to see you. thank you, thank you. >> now thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of belfast to demonstrate against northern ireland's new health bill that critics argue threatens medical freedom. >> well, the bill looks at how the government will tackle pubuc the government will tackle public health emergencies like covid 19. in the future. >> however, members of the pubuc >> however, memb

john swinney announced his retirement from frontline politics, though, last year at the age of 60, witharty and as first minister of scotland when his party faced the latest

five part tweet to scottish first ministerjohn swinney in first minister john swinney in light of friday's council of nafions light of friday's council of nations and regions. and he told john swinney to be, to be and think independently, not subserviently, reminding him that scotland was a country, not a county, but indeed that kind of fire in his belly is, is, can be seen all the way right across his career. he first joined the snp in 1973 and in 87 he finally became an mp . he was, you know, became an mp. he was, you know, quite actually part of the group essentially pushed the snp to the left from the old position of the tartan tories. and of course, you know, someone who transcended from a essentially a fringe political rabble rouser all the way up to the seat of government and the scottish independence. sorry, the scottish independence referendum was another huge cap in his illustrious career. really , and illustrious career. really, and where he failed to get that over the line. but in retrospect, he came within ten points of toppling a 300 year old union. and indeed, there you heard

we will be speaking to the current first minisler— speaking to the current first ministerjohn swinneyut alex salmond and his legacy this morning at nine _ salmond and his legacy this morning at nine o'clock. we are also talking about _ at nine o'clock. we are also talking about what — at nine o'clock. we are also talking about what is happening in the economy _ about what is happening in the economy. the country is able to pay its way, _ economy. the country is able to pay its way, that — economy. the country is able to pay its way, that is ahead of a big investment summit the government is convening _ investment summit the government is convening here in london in the coniing — convening here in london in the coming days. there have been whispers— coming days. there have been whispers about business confidence slipping _ whispers about business confidence slipping away, in the whispers about business confidence slipping away, in the first whispers about business confidence slipping away, in the first hundred days of— slipping away, in the first hundred days of this government. there

, has said snp, john swinney, has said tonight that salmon worked tirelessly and fought fearlessly for country that he loved for the country that he loved for and her independence . in for and her independence. in other news tonight, 100 days in and sir keir starmer admits it has not been smooth sailing. in a video posted on social media, the prime minister has been reflecting on labour's landslide win in july, but acknowledged the choppy days since taking office. when asked if he thought he had been successful, his spokesperson said it's up to the pubuc spokesperson said it's up to the public to decide. >> today marks 100 days of my labour government. before that, 14 years of tory failure. 14 years is a long time to cause damage. 100 days isn't much time to fix it. i will level with you.the to fix it. i will level with you. the scale of the damage is huge. but i will take the tough decisions to fix the foundations of our country, to deliver the long term change we need to change that. you voted for. long term change we need to change that. you voted for . the change that. you voted fo

we'll bejoined byjohn swinney, scotland's first minister and snp leader. keir starmer�*s big promise to all of us was to fix the economy. after 100 days we'll ask, can the government make us better off? but ministers have already offended one big business — the owner of p&0 — the transport secretary saying she'd boycott their boats. this morning, the business secretary and a banker, jonathan reynolds, and the boss of the country's biggest bank, lloyds, charlie nunn is here. and the race for the tory crown�*s down to two. robertjenrick will be with us today to answer some of your questions. and our team at the desk for the next hour this week, actor and snp supporter brian cox, lib dems deputy leader daisy cooper and billionaire businessman, john caudwell. morning, morning — let's start by looking at the newspapers. it is dominated by the death of alex salmond, on the front pages of the sunday times and right across the scottish front pages. the national smashers with his final words in public, scotland is a country, not a county. keir starmer has been spea

his passing and paid tribute to his devotion to scotland whilst the current first minister, john swinneyited his predecessor with inspiring a generation to believe in scottish independence. well, let's head over to glasgow now to speak gb news scotland reporter tony mcguire. tony, thank you very much for joining me now. of course, he was a titan of politics in scotland, but what's the atmosphere like there? i know there were disagreements in terms of what he believed in, but nobody can deny that he was a real figure in scottish politics. >> yeah. good afternoon. that's right. and certainly the language in almost every tribute that's pouring in says something slightly similar, such as he was a colossus, he was a titan, as you so eloquently put there. he was a force to be reckoned with who left a footprint in scottish politics for multiple generations. and it's about 51 years ago, he joined the snp as the party and about 15 after that he became an mp for the first time, shortly later leading the party. and then we all know what happened after the turn of the millennium. he led scotland to

evening to salmon and a short while ago, scotland's first minister and the leader of the snp, john swinney, has said that he is deeply shocked and saddened at the untimely death of the former first minister, adding that alex made an enormous contribution to political life where he worked tirelessly and fought fearlessly for the country that he loved and for her independence . the and for her independence. the leader of the scottish conservatives, russell findlay , conservatives, russell findlay, has also just released a statement saying salmon will be remembered as a formidable and impressive politician who made a lasting impact on our country. prime minister sir keir starmer has said alex salmond was a monumental figure of scottish and uk politics. he leaves behind a lasting legacy. he cared deeply about scotland's heritage, history and culture and the prime minister added on behalf of the uk government, he offers condolences to all those that knew who knew salmond , his that knew who knew salmond, his family and his loved ones. scottish labour leader anas sarwar has also paid tribute to

john swinney, the current first minister of scotland, said "i'm deeply shocked and saddened that mr salmond'sor the country that he loved and for independence. he took the scottish national party from the fringes of politics into government, and lead scotland so close to becoming an independent country". prime minister sir keir starmer paid tribute to the alex salmond, calling him a monumentalfigure in the political world. david cameron, he was prime minister at the time of the edinburgh agreement, which paved the way for the independence referendum in 2014, said that "we disagreed about many things but there is no doubt alex salmond was a giant of scottish and british politics, hugely passionate about the causes he championed stop he was one of those rare politicians with both enormous charisma and genuine conviction who always held the room". all of these tributes, of course, sending their condolences to alex salmond's widow moira and of course his family and friends. find course his family and friends. and that referendum _ course his family and friends. and that referendum in 2014 was prob

ministerjohn swinney said he was "deeply shocked" at the news, saying salmond "worked tirelessly andountry that he loved and for her independence". and the prime minister described salmond as being a "monumental figure of scottish and uk politics". sir keir starmer has said "as first minister of scotland he cared deeply about scotland's heritage, history and culture, as well as the communities he represented over many years of service." salmond has been remembered as a powerful communicator and, after conceding defeat in the scottish independence referendum in 2014, he reflected on the positives of his parties campaign. let us not dwell on the distance we have fallen short, let us dwell on the distance we have travelled and have confidence that the movement is abroad in scotland that will take this nation forward and we shall go forward as one nation. thank you very much. we're joined now by former bbc scotland political editor brian taylor. you knew alex salmond for years, what were your first memories of him, when did you first come across him? ~ ,., ., , , him? we were both at uni

we can talk now tojohn swinney, scotland's first minister and snp leader. thank you for your time today