Salmond pledges to ‘shake up cosy politics’ of Holyrood with Alba Party
Alex Salmond has pledged his new party will “shake up the cosy politics of Holyrood” if any Alba candidates get elected.
The former first minister admitted his party was not competing “to become a government”, but that he would “push a government further than it would otherwise go”.
Today’s Savanta Comres poll for The Scotsman puts support for Alba, which is standing on the regional lists, at just 1 per cent. Previous polls have put support for the party at between 3 and 6 per cent.
In a swipe at the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon, his party manifesto claims Alba MSPS would be the “voice of the
independent movement” in Parliament to “ensure no more cans are kicked down the road”.
The manifesto claims the approach to gaining independence has been too “timid” and Alba would be more “gallus” about the constitutional issue, including laying a motion in Parliament, as soon as the new Scottish government is formed, calling for independence negotiations to begin with the UK government.
It also proposes a National Commission on Independence to “build a robust plan” for dissolving the Union, which would report to a special parliamentary committee and, a “standing Convention” of all Scottish parliamentarians, meeting in the old Royal High School – the Edinburgh building many believe should have been the site of the parliament when it was established after the devolution referendum.
The Alba Party plan for independence also includes pressing for a section 30 order to hold a referendum.