Sturgeon accused of leaving indy movement ‘stranded’

Former SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars has accused the First Minister of leaving the Scottish independence movement “stranded” and at risk of splintering.

With a new Alliance for Independence being set up in a bid to win regional list seats in next year’s Holyrood election, Mr Sillars also urged Nicola Sturgeon to consider the role such a group could play.

The veteran politician said Ms Sturgeon should “exercise some wisdom” and consider the situation from the perspective of the broader independence movement, rather than just from a party political stance.

He made the plea after it emerged former SNP MSP Dave Thompson is to quit the party for the Alliance for Independence – which will reportedly run under the slogan “Max the Yes” in May’s ballot.

In a letter published in a national newspaper, Mr Sillars argued Ms Sturgeon has “led the independence movement up the political hill and left it stranded there”, and now faces the “possible consequences of it splintering as it comes down it”.

He added: “She now has to exercise some wisdom, take off the party hat and put on the movement one.”

Mr Sillars, who was SNP deputy leader between 1991 and 1992, insisted the “strategic objective” in the Holyrood ballot should be to “amass an overwhelming majority of MSPS committed beyond all doubt to claiming a mandate for another referendum, a mandate the size of which any UK government would find difficult to refuse”.