Stirring the pot?

So what is he up to now? Does it amount to anything more than an attempt to deflect criticism that he is keeping his options open by refusing to relinquish his Westminster seat, which would allow him to forsake the Holyrood parliament if he fails to become First Minister? The Herald reports:

Alex Salmond is considering staying on as a Westminster MP after the next General Election if he becomes Scotland's First Minister, party sources have told The Herald.
The assumption has so far been that if the Nationalist leader were to win a seat at Holyrood on May 3 and become leader of an SNP-led Scottish Executive, then he would stand down as an MP, certainly at the next General Election, still expected to be in the spring or summer of 2009.
However, party sources have pointed out there might be "advantages" to Mr Salmond remaining in the House of Commons beyond the next General Election.
Nationalist thinking appears to be that remaining as an MP would give the party leader a unique weekly platform to raise Scottish issues and goad Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose premiership - should the SNP form an executive in Edinburgh - could be dogged by "the Scottish question". The 52-year-old 's continued questioning at Westminster set-piece events such as PMQs might not only beleaguer the Labour government but also provide a spur for the Nationalists' key argument: Scottish independence, a referendum on which is likely towards the end of the Scottish parliamentary session in 2010-11.

Not a very practical arrangement. Could a First Minister seriously contemplate being in London every Wednesday for Prime Minister's Questions? Wednesday is of course one of only two days in the week when the Holyrood Parliament is in session. If Mr Salmond remained a Westminster MP as well as an MSP, he would have two separate constituencies in the North East to look after, as well as doing what is generally recognised to be a full-time job as First Minister and keeping up with developments at Westminster. It's not impossible, but it would be difficult and exhausting.

But, as ever with Mr Salmond, maybe it's just a ploy.


Update:

According to The Evening News (here), the story is simply not true. Now I wonder what he meant by denying the story?