Alex Salmond's fury at BBC documentary as former colleagues criticise his behaviour

A furious Alex Salmond yesterday accused the BBC of ‘venomous and institutional bias’ following a documentary about the history of the SNP. But he told his followers: ‘For any independence supporter to trust a single word the BBC, or associated organisation, say is one of the great mistakes in life.’ He accused the broadcaster of ‘venomous and institutional bias against Scottish independence’ and added: ‘I should have smelled a rat immediately, instead of believing the assurances that they willingly gave, that they were intent on making serious programming.’ His comments came just hours after the second episode became available on the on-demand service calling the programme a ‘soap opera history’. The documentary features Nicola Sturgeon and others criticising the former SNP leader Mr Salmond, who was cleared of all charges after a criminal trial, said: ‘The first episode, starting 1987 offered some hope, but the urge to portray history as a psycho drama between me and Nicola Sturgeon meant that major figures such as Winnie Ewing, Jim Sillars, Alex Neil, and Margo MacDonald were written out to allow others to be written in.’ He went on to say: ‘The second episode plumbed new depths even for the BBC-soap opera history. I doubt Humza can say the same, nor that it will be said of him.’ A BBC spokesperson said: ‘The series provides an in-depth look at the recent history of the SNP from 1987 to 2023 and includes a broad range of contributors who share their insights.’ The two-part series is being aired on BBC iPlayer, with the second episode also due to be broadcast on BBC Scotland on Wednesday night.