A LEADING activist in the grassroots movement has said that “independence is bigger than any party” after the SNP suffered a huge defeat in the General Election.

The party has lost 38 seats in Scotland so far, with one seat still to be declared. Meanwhile, the Alba Party have lost their deposit in every seat they contested, with both of the party's previous MPs losing their seats.

Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp (below), founder of Believe in Scotland (BiS) – a campaign which includes 142 local and national grassroots Yes groups – told The National he was keeping a positive outlook on the future of independence.

He added that the SNP’s failure to “champion independence” in their campaign had “cost them dearly”, calling for a civic movement to now lead the fight for independence.

“This is a setback for the SNP but not so much for the independence movement as a whole,” MacIntyre-Kemp said.

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“Independence is bigger than any party or group, and the SNP failing to champion independence in their General Election campaign or to prepare properly over the last year for this election has cost them dearly.”

Turning to the wider movement, MacIntyre-Kemp called on people to join BIS and “lead the push to independence from the grassroots”.

“BiS is a hugely successful non-party-political campaign; one of our goals has been to keep independence support remaining strong despite the predicted fall in the SNPs electoral fortunes.

“We want people to join us and help us step up and lead the push to independence from the grassroots.

“The SNP have been trying to run the country and to lead the indy campaign, trying to ride two horses at once - and they are falling off both of them.”

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He continued: “A civic grassroots cultural campaign is needed alongside a strong political arm, and we've been providing this since 2019 but had struggled to gain the traction we needed.

“That changed in the last year with our hugely successful march and rallies, our billboards and targeted independence campaign days, and we are taking it to the next level,” MacIntyre-Kemp added. “We don’t stop, we will never give up and we will win.”

BiS is holding its next independence campaign day in Inverness on August 17. The group is calling for activists “from all parties and none” to join them for stalls, leafleting and music.

Further events in Hawick, Orkney and Edinburgh are set to take place in the next couple of months, with more details to be announced soon.

The campaign is also organising an event on September 18 to mark the tenth anniversary of the referendum vote.