ALEX Salmond has demanded clarity from the SNP on how they hope to achieve independence if the Supreme Court blocks indyref2.
The Alba leader, who left the SNP in 2018 amid sexual misconduct claims (which he was later cleared of in court), suggested the independence movement band together at the next General Election and not act as separate political parties as has been suggested by Nicola Sturgeon and the Greens.
The Supreme Court case hinges on whether Holyrood is legally capable of holding a referendum without Westminster’s permission and many are sceptical judges will side with the Scottish Government.
Plan B is the de-facto referendum strategy put forward by the First Minister, in which the SNP and other independence parties would fight the next election on the sole question of independence.
But Salmond said parties should either unite as one electoral force in this instance, or fight on a “coupon” strategy as was done by former prime minister David Lloyd George who formed a pre-election coalition with other parties in 1918 and was re-elected on a landslide.
He suggested the Greens, Alba and the SNP could all stand candidates in parts of the country under a "Scotland United" banner, telling voters that if they want independence they should vote for those parties and put aside other political differences.
Speaking in Westminster on Tuesday, Salmond said: “If you fight it as a normal election, then into that election, inevitably will come all sorts of stuff from the SNP government’s track record, which frankly is going to be difficult to defend.
“The state of the health service in Scotland is difficult to defend at the present moment, the ferry fiasco is difficult to defend. The beauty of a referendum, or fighting it as ‘Scotland United’ is you’re fighting it on the single principle that a nation should be independent … as opposed to what some politician has or hasn’t done.”
But the Alba leader said the SNP have to set out their strategy for fighting an election on these terms and claimed that their current approach to Westminster is failing.
He fired a broadside at the party’s MPs, saying they were “accepting an insult to democracy on a daily basis”.
The SNP - who have dominated Scottish politics since 2007 - have not adequately prepared to wield the power it already has, according to Salmond. He said the party have to demonstrate the strength of pro-independence sentiment on the international stage.
He went on : “The SNP have won two General Elections on the concept of an independence referendum but hadn’t worked out what you do when the other side says no.
“If you’re going to succeed in politics, then you need to plan out your moves and you have to anticipate what the other side does.
“It’s almost as if it’s a surprise that successive Tory prime ministers have said, in a variety of ways now is not the time … what you have to do is work out a way to bend them to your will.
“That means three things; that people in that place [Westminster] get off their backsides and start behaving as their meant to do, as representatives arguing and articulating for independence and not accepting an insult to democracy on a daily basis.
“Secondly, you’ve got to mobilise the people of Scotland behind a realisable objective to give heart to the independence movement, which is supported by so many.
“And thirdly, you’ve got to call a convention of all the elected representatives in Scotland and demonstrate that the elected majority is there and go to the international courts, to international opinion.”
He added: “The General Election strategy can only matter if you’re prepared to do that in its aftermath.
“You have to say, ‘if we win it, not only do we win it but we mean it’.”
