The Scottish government is chartering a flight to repatriate Alex Salmond's body after the Foreign Office rejected requests for the RAF to get involved, Sky News understands.

Friends and political allies of Salmond have called for the RAF to fly his body home but this was reportedly rejected as he was a private citizen at the time of his death in North Macedonia.

The "shock of Alex Salmond's death is reverberating around every corner of UK politics", said Sky News. A "Marmite figure", Salmond certainly "divided opinion", but he was "respected as the giant who was instrumental in delivering the 2014 Scottish independence referendum".

Mr. Salmond had led the Scottish National Party twice, guiding it from a fringe political group into a powerful electoral force in Britain.

The former first minister of Scotland died on Saturday, at the age of 69, during a trip to Ohrid in North Macedonia.

Alex Salmond’s body to be repatriated on private flight to Scotland - Calls by Tory MP for RAF to be used come to nothing as government helps ‘expedite’ procedure

Alex Salmond's body is set to be flown home by a private plane following days of diplomatic wrangling. The former first minister was attending a conference in North Macedonia last week when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Private individual pays for repatriation of Alex Salmond’s body to Scotland - The former first minister died of a heart attack on Saturday in North Macedonia.