Former First Minister Alex Salmond is to become a regular columnist with two Scottish daily newspapers after revealing in an interview that he doesn’t want another referendum.

DC Thomson titles The Courier and The Press and Journal have today run the first instalment of an exclusive in-depth interview with the leading politician.

In it he reveals that he rather than stage another referendum on independence, he wants the Scottish Parliament to secure full control of all powers except foreign policy and defence.

From Monday, the two morning titles will carry a weekly column by Mr Salmond featuring his hard-hitting views.

In today’s interview he says: “We are not campaigning for a second referendum – we’ve had a referendum. Another referendum is a matter for the future.

“This Westminster election is about delivering to Scotland what was promised. I am determined that these promises are now redeemed, and the way to do that is to elect a block of SNP MPs – they are the real guarantors of The Vow.”

Subsequent instalments of the interview will reveal Mr Salmond’s true feelings on Gordon Brown, what it was like to be First Minister of Scotland and the worst and best moments of his time in office.

He joins a number of well-known names who write for the DC Thomson titles including The Press and Journal columnists Iain Maciver and Ron Ferguson and The Courier’s Eve Muirhead and Jim Crumley.