ALBA Party leader Alex Salmond has said that the Scottish independence movement “won’t accept moving backwards”.
The former first minister was addressing a gathering of indy supporters in Edinburgh today (January 27) after a poll was released by Alba in which 52% said they would vote Yes.
It also comes after another poll carried out on Alba’s behalf found that a majority of Scots back Holyrood having the powers to negotiate and legislate for independence.
Salmond used the speech to fire a warning at the SNP, saying the party could be set to hit a “40 year low” at the General Election later this year if it "fails to embrace popular policies" to advance the cause of Scottish independence.
He told the crowd: “The SNP’s election message of “Stop the Tories” takes the national movement back forty years. The last time the SNP fought a General Election on that limited platform was 1987.
“And without putting forward popular policies and a coherent strategy to deliver independence the SNP will find themselves back in the political doldrums of the 1980s.
“But with Independence support riding high while backing for the SNP is spiralling downwards, the independence movement won’t accept moving backwards.”
The Alba Party leader then claimed his former party are “devoid of strategy” and “clueless” on how to achieve independence.
Alba’s Holyrood leader Ash Regan, meanwhile, called on Humza Yousaf to back plans to hold a referendum on the powers of the Scottish Parliament to unblock the ‘constitutional logjam’ the independence movement has faced in recent years.
Commenting, Regan said: “It is clear that an overwhelming majority of the Scottish public would back the Parliament having these powers so I would be confident we would secure a Yes vote in a referendum.”
She continued: “Humza Yousaf and the Scottish Government should now embrace the proposal to hold a referendum on the powers of the parliament.”
Alongside Regan, Salmond was also joined by Alba Party depute leader Kenny MacAskill, the party’s Westminster leader Neale Hanvey and independent MP Angus MacNeil at the Edinburgh meeting, which was chaired by former MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.
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