ALEX Salmond is to deliver a flagship speech claiming that Scotland will “inevitably become an independent nation".

The intervention could be seen as Salmond pushing for a second independence referendum.

Salmond is due to address the SNP Meadows Morningside branch on Thursday May 17 - just weeks before the SNP conference in Aberdeen.

His address is billed as a "very special event being held by the SNP's Morningside branch".

"Our former First Minister Alex Salmond speaks with wit and passion on Scotland, her place in the world, and how she will inevitably become an independent nation again," the invite to party members states.

The SNP is charging party members £10 for a ticket to hear the former First Minister's speak.

The Sunday Herald sought to contact Salmond about his forthcoming speech in Edinburgh. However, Salmond failed to reply to an email.