Salmond signals his return – only if there’s an Indyref 2
ALEX Salmond yesterday signalled a return to frontline politics – as soon as a second independence referendum is called.
The former First Minister said he has no ‘immediate’ plans to make a comeback to Holyrood or Westminster.
But last night he said he stands ready for whenever Nicola Sturgeon ‘fires the starting gun’ on Indyref2.
Speaking at an SNP branch meeting in Morningside, Edinburgh, Mr Salmond said: ‘I have no immediate political ambitions. I am very happy doing what I’m doing at the present moment.
‘But the day and the hour that Nicola fires that starting gun, I’ll be on my marks and ready to go for the Yes campaign.’
The former SNP leader, who lost his seat in last year’s general election, said the time frame for a second referendum is a ‘moment of judgment for the First Minister’, adding: ‘I’m absolutely certain that she will choose that moment wisely, carefully and successfully.’
And he said the UK Government will leave Miss Sturgeon with an open goal if it pushes on with the EU Withdrawal Bill without Holyrood’s consent.
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: ‘Alex Salmond is ignoring the inconvenient facts that a majority of the population still want to be part of the United Kingdom, and there has been no shift in that position for some time.’
Mr Salmond’s close ally and former Nationalist MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was among those in the audience.