Alex Salmond had a bizarre reason for not attending the Syria debate

The House of Commons was packed on Thursday as MPs crowded into the chamber to hear Prime Minister David Cameron outline his plans to bomb Syria.

There was, however, one notable absence - Alex Salmond.

Instead of taking part in the debate, the former leader of the Scottish National Party was 400 miles away, unveiling a portrait of himself at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.

Salmond, who is now the SNP's foreign affairs spokesman has been very critical of the Government's military involvement in Syria, so it was very unusual for him to miss such an important debate.

Here he is posing with the portrait.

The boy standing next to Salmond is 13-year-old Ryan McGuigan; he became something of an internet sensation earlier this week after a video of him impersonating Salmond went viral. Check him out below.