ALEX Salmond hit back at broadcaster Andrew Neil over his claims on Scottish independence.
During an appearance on Times Radio, which Neil recently joined, the Alba Party leader was told that “you had your chance” and that independence was “over for the foreseeable future”.
Neil recently joined the broadcaster for its coverage of this year’s UK and US elections after hitting the headlines for sharing a widely condemned cartoon showing Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf hanging from a noose.
AN: “The chances of independence in your lifetime are receding.” AS: “Andrew, I’m not going to say read my lips but listen to me when I tell you: I’m trying to lead Alba into the next independence coalition.”@afneil and @AlexSalmond clash over Scottish independence. pic.twitter.com/28cNABgvXo
— Times Radio (@TimesRadio) June 6, 2024
He said to Salmond: “The SNP and the nationalist cause have almost kind of dominated Scottish politics in modern times despite the referendum result in 2014.
“You do get the kind of feeling now that I mean that was then and this is now, that you had your chance, it didn’t work and it’s pretty much over for the foreseeable future.”
Salmond replied: “Everybody deserves a second chance. Every party and every nation. So I think we’ll get another chance but you have to make it the priority.
“Why have the SNP done so well since 2007? Because each election in Scottish politics has been dominated by the constitutional question.
“In this election, the SNP have allowed the constitutional question to not slip right off the political agenda but way, way down people’s list of priorities.”
Neil then put it to Salmond that if you ask Scottish voters what their main concerns are, it would not be independence and that health and education would be higher.
Salmond then replied to say that the “holy grail” of constitutional politics “is to link your constitutional aim to the bread and butter issues of social and economic progress”.
He again said that the SNP “have taken their foot off the independence pedal”.
Pressed further on what his party would do specifically to help achieve independence, Salmond said: “Well two things. One, if we were fortunate enough to emerge as that strong left-arm of the independence movement in a coalition government then we’d re-introduce some adults back into the room in the Scottish Parliament and some competence into government to reenforce the confidence of the Scottish people.
“And secondly, in the absence of a referendum because you know given the SNP’s huffing and puffing for the last 10 years, Westminster is not going to offer one.”
Salmond said it was crucial to put a “ballot box opportunity in an election and unambiguously look for a popular mandate in an election for independence”.
Neil again said the independence movement “had its chance” before Salmond replied: “How do political parties get off the back foot onto the front foot? Well the first thing is a psychological thing, you’ve got to get yourself to take the initiative.
“I, if I may say so, I helped turn a small party into a very large party in Scotland. It took the best part of 20 years. I’m gonna try the same thing again except I’m hoping for a much shorter timescale.”
Neil then asked Salmond if he was “reconciled to the fact” that the “chances of independence in your lifetime are receding”.
“I intend to lead Alba into an independence coalition in the next Scottish Parliament, in the next Scottish government and from there face down Westminster in the sort of way I did before with renewed vigour and learning all the lessons I’ve learnt from the past and applying them for the future.”
Salmond has already announced that he won’t run in this General Election as he sets his sights on a seat in Holyrood in 2026.
