ALBA Party leader Alex Salmond is calling on the Scottish Government to prioritise securing an independence referendum following news that Westminster may seek to change the franchise for a future vote to all people born in Scotland and now living elsewhere.
Salmond accused the Tories of “blatant ballot rigging” and said the reports emphasise the importance of pushing for independence now.
READ MORE: What went wrong with Alex Salmond's Alba campaign, and what comes next?
The former SNP leader pointed out that prior to the 2014 independence referendum, the idea of all Scots voting had been floated – but the Edinburgh Agreement eventually stated that voting rights would be based on residence.
Speaking outside of Westminster, Salmond claimed while the Tories scheme the Scottish Government ministers “sit and do nothing”.
Salmond said that if Holyrood does not act, his party will set down a marker for the start of a new independence campaign at the upcoming Alba party conference in Greenock, set to be held from September 11-12.
“We have two examples in one week of Westminster trying to thwart a referendum, not democratically, but by using chicanery to try rig the ballot by exercising their power. The question for Scotland is what are we going to do about it?” he asked. “Because by the look of it, precious little.
“While Westminster are preparing and laying their plans and ground work to rig the ballot the Scottish Government are doing nothing at all other than discussions about discussions about having a referendum at some point after the pandemic, exactly what Alba warned about during the Scottish elections.”
Alba’s party pledged to prioritise independence and called for negotiations with Westminster to start immediately after the May election, but they did not succeed in getting any MSPs elected.
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