A LEADING figure in the Scottish independence campaign says there should be no delay to the SNP special conference.
Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp, chief executive of Business for Scotland and the founder of the grassroots independence campaign group Believe in Scotland (BiS), has said calls for a delay to the SNP's special conference are “understandable but completely counterproductive”.
This weekend, BiS’s Scottish independence congress will still go ahead despite previously being planned to feed into the SNP’s debate - which may now not happen.
Some 175 voting delegates from local Yes groups are to agree on a recommended route to independence and the role the grassroots has to play to bring people to Yes.
Macintyre-Kemp criticised the role SNP have played in the months following the Supreme Court's decision.
He said: ”There were two possible outcomes from the Supreme Court ruling and the SNP didn't seem ready for either of them.
“The Yes movement should have been in campaign mode the next day and the Scottish Government papers should have all been published by now.
“Instead, the special conference was announced and that delay took the wind out of the sails of the grassroots Yes movement.
“There should be no more delays - Yes campaigners need a target to aim for, to motivate our activists and put the Yes movement on the front foot.”
Echoing comments made by Stewart McDonald MP, MacIntyre-Kemp said: “All leadership contenders should speak at the conference and show their mettle by stating clearly what their views on the route to independence are and how they would deliver that as a leader. Use it as a hustings event.”
He also suggested that the special conference doesn't need a party leader as “the conference was supposed to be all about the decision of the membership”.
“Michael Russell and Keith Brown are more than capable of running the event," he said.
Members have been assured that the congress agenda won't change. The online event will be discussing what Sturgeon's resignation means for the independence movement during the panel discussion and in the online discussions.
BiS exclusive polling will be also still be revealed. MacIntyre-Kemp said it is "about the path to independence and so a new FM may well change support for independence and for the SNP but we are months away from knowing that.
"The options for achieving independence haven't changed, so gaining clarity on the route map we suggest to the SNP special conference, and indeed to their new leader, is more important than ever."
Delegates will also be shown three in-depth interviews with political party leadership figures: Michael Russell from the SNP; Ross Greer from the Scottish Greens and Kenny MacAskill from Alba. These interviews were recorded before Sturgeon's resignation.
