Alex Salmond has ridiculed Nicola Sturgeon’s attempts to win an independence referendum despite being up against “a bunch of complete muppets” at Westminster. The First Minister has insisted a breakaway poll will happen on October 19 next year, and her government is locked in a Supreme Court case over whether it has the power to hold one without the Prime Minister’s consent.
But in a scathing verdict on her tactics at the first day of the Alba party conference in Stirling yesterday, former SNP leader Salmond said: “There has been no real pressure to force the Tories to agree a referendum. In 2011 as first minister at the Scottish elections I won one single mandate for a referendum.
“The referendum duly followed in 2014. I faced down David Cameron as prime minister to respect Scotland’s rights. I didn’t agree with him but he was a political giant in comparison with Liz Truss. In contrast, Nicola Sturgeon has had four election mandates for IndyRef2.
