A BRANCH of Alex Salmond’s Alba Party has passed a motion to go to its first National Council meeting calling for draft strategies to be drawn up in the areas of defence and foreign policy.
And the motion from Alba’s Edinburgh branch suggests that Craig Murray, the jailed blogger and former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, should lead the working party undertaking the tasks.
The motion was proposed by former MEP Hugh Kerr (inset) and George Kerevan, a former SNP MP.
Kerr (below), who is one of two delegates to the council from the Edinburgh branch, told The National: “Alba needs to have a distinctive foreign and defence policy to the left of the SNP, who are very tied into the British establishment at Westminster.
“Who better to head up this commission than Craig Murray with his experience of foreign policy?”
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Kerr said Murray, who was jailed over his blog reports from the trial of former first minister Salmond, was expected to be released from Saughton jail next month.
He said the party should use his expertise and that of current and former MPs, MSPs and MEPs, as well as other experienced members.
During Murray’s trial and since he was jailed, there has been a widespread campaign to free the former diplomat.
An early day motion was tabled by Alba in the House of Commons, calling on the Scottish Government to introduce emergency legislation to allow civil prisoners to be treated in the same way as criminal prisoners.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it considered Murray’s sentence disproportionate.
The group added: “While journalists must ensure they adhere to court orders with regard to witness protection, imprisonment in connection with any journalistic activity should only ever be a measure of absolute last resort, if at all.”
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