The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Salmond claims PM could be gone in a ‘puff of wind’
Alba Party leader Alex Salmond has said a “puff of wind” could currently blow Prime Minister Boris Johnson over.
Mr Johnson has been under fire in recent weeks over a number of issues, including the recent announcement by the Electoral Commission of an investigation into how the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat was funded.
The former first minister questioned whether Mr Johnson will still be in office in two weeks, adding that he does not believe the prime minister will be as steadfast against granting another independence referendum as he has made out.
Mr Salmond told STV: “People keep telling me what an immovable object Boris Johnson will be, I think a puff of wind would blow him over at the
present moment. I’m not even sure he’ll be in Downing Street in two weeks’ time.
“I don’t think moving Boris Johnson on the independence referendum is going to be as difficult as people feel it is, but if you don’t start that process you’re never going to finish it.”
Mr Salmond, who said his party was launched to
inject “urgency” into the independence debate, refused to say what other measures he would advocate if a referendum is not granted.
The Alba Party and Mr Salmond have said the Scottish Government should negotiate with Westminster on how best for Scotland to become independent, and say it should not limit its ambition to holding a referendum.
Mr Salmond said: “You should keep your options open – you don’t set your ambition for a Section 30 referendum, that’s just an invitation for Whitehall to turn it down.
“In a negotiation, you don’t always tell the other side what your ambitions are, that’s an invitation for them to say no to you, you need to have other things up your sleeve – plan B as it’s sometimes called, I think you need plans C, D and E as well when you’re facing down Westminster.”
Meanwhile, Alex Salmond has unveiled his party’s five-point plan to end child poverty.
The former first minister announced the poorest families would be given a £500 annual payment under the Alba Party proposals, as well as highlighting previous pledges to increase the education maintenance allowance and the Scottish Child Payment, extend free school meals and make sports facilities free for young people.
The £500 payment, the party says, will be made to every family receiving the council tax reduction for low earners, estimated at 500,000 homes.
Announcing the move, Mr Salmond said poverty is a “political scandal”, and he called on Holyrood to take “bold and radical action”.
He added: “Covid has shown us, in the starkest way possible, the division in our society between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’.
“Covid did not create these divisions but it has exacerbated them. As the country recovers from the pandemic it is time for Scotland to think big about the kind of country we want to be.
“It is time to rebalance our nation’s priorities in favour of people who have the least and for those communities who have been left behind for far too long.
“The levels of poverty in Scotland are a political scandal and Parliament must now take bold and radical action to ensure that such inequality is no longer accepted by politicians in the Scottish Parliament.
“These five specific targeted measures represent a step-change in addressing poverty and each one will make a real and meaningful difference to the lives of children and families across the country.”
Alba has pledged to quadruple the Scottish Child Payment from £10 to £40 per week, double education maintenance allowance from £30 to £60 per week and remove attendance requirements, extend free school meals to all pupils in secondary and primary schools, and allow universal access to sports facilities for those under 18.