ALBA have said they are willing to work with the SNP at Westminster to help achieve Scottish independence after new group leader Stephen Flynn held out his hand to Alex Salmond’s team.
Chris McEleny, Alba’s general secretary, said the movement is at a “critical” point after the UK Supreme Court ruled the Scottish Parliament could not legislate for a referendum without Westminster’s consent.
And he insisted it is important to turn the “failure of the Supreme Court tactic” into something positive for the Yes campaign.
Flynn – who was elected as the SNP’s Westminster leader last week in place of Ian Blackford – suggested he was open to working with Alba in pursuit of Scotland’s self-determination.
During an interview with the National’s sister paper, he said he was “quite happy” to work with all parties in the movement.
McEleny said: “The decision by the Supreme Court to deny the right of the Scottish Parliament to hold an independence referendum and the continuing refusal of the UK Government to transfer the power to hold a referendum presents clear challenges to Scottish democracy and the sovereign will of the Scottish people.
“How the movement responds now is critical if we are to turn the failure of the Supreme Court tactic into a strategic victory for the independence cause.
“Our team of Alba MPs at Westminster have been willing to work with anyone that believes Scotland needs to regain independence as an immediate priority.
“Stephen Flynn’s comments are welcome and a good start to his pledge to work with the independence movement and Alba Party would be to have his SNP group members sign Neale Hanvey’s Early Day Motion that endorses the St Andrew’s Day Declaration that states our nation has the right of self-determination and that we will democratically challenge any authority or government which seeks to deny us that right.”
The St Andrew’s Day Declaration – so far signed by more than 3000 people - states: “We the people, elected members and civic organisations of Scotland assert that our nation has the right of self-determination to freely determine our political status and to freely pursue our economic, social and cultural development.
"Mindful of the Scottish constitutional tradition of the sovereignty of the people we will democratically challenge any authority or government which seeks to deny us that right.”
