Nicola Sturgeon has said she has "no intentions" of working with Alex Salmond if he is elected to Holyrood.
In an interview with Channel 4 News, which will be broadcast this evening, she added that she wanted to see a public inquiry into covid-19 started later this year.
The relationship between Salmond and Sturgeon fell apart over the Government's unlawful investigation into him in 2018.
The latest round in the fallout came last week when Salmond launched a rival pro-independence party, Alba, to stand at the Holyrood election.
Salmond has said the aim of Alba is to create a "super majority" of pro-indy MSPs, but Sturgeon has said her predecessor's Holyrood bid is motivated by his love of the limelight. She has also rebuffed his attempts at unity
Sturgeon told Channel 4 News: “I am not planning to work with Alex Salmond.”
She said she does not believe the Alba Party “will help the independence cause”, and added: “I’m not even sure from his perspective it’s intended to do that.
“I won’t be seeking to work with Alex Salmond.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar later told journalists that he believes Mr Salmond’s return to frontline politics is “about revenge”.
He said the launch of the Alba Party last week had turned the election campaign into a “circus”.
Mr Sarwar added: “We cannot allow the circus of the last week to become the circus of the next five weeks and the circus of the next Parliament.
“It would be a complete abdication of our collective responsibility in terms of the kind of democracy, the kind of Parliament the people of Scotland need coming through this crisis.
“Who is anybody kidding? This is not about a tactic to try to get a referendum, this is about revenge.
“We have got to have a Parliament that is focused on recovery, not revenge.”
