It will be very interesting to see the SNP’s fan club squirming out of this.

The former First Minister is accused of “staggering” hypocrisy after vilifying Labour for campaigning with the Conservatives during the independence referendum.

Mr Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, his successor, have spent months lambasting Labour for campaigning alongside the Conservatives to keep Scotland in the UK ahead of last year’s independence referendum.

They have suggested that Labour’s participation in the victorious Better Together campaign meant they were little more than ‘red Tories’ and argued that Scots will never forgive them for joining the Better Together alliance to save the Union.

The tactic appeared effective in convincing many traditional Labour voters to abandon the party in favour of the SNP during the general election, in which the Nationalists won 56 out of 59 seats north of the Border.

Alex Johnstone, a Tory MSP, described the comment as “hypocrisy of the highest order”, adding: “Salmond conveniently forgets that he himself relied on the Conservatives in the Scottish Parliament during his four years in minority government.

“He then went on to slate Labour politicians in Scotland for campaigning alongside the Conservatives in the independence referendum. Now, because it suits him, the goalposts have changed again.”