Alex Salmond has accused Nicola Sturgeon making a "bad gamble that hasn't paid off" after the Supreme Court rejected her plan for an IndyRef2 next year.
The former SNP leader claimed the Scottish Government should instead have passed legislation for a referendum on independence at Holyrood and forced Westminster to challenge it.
It comes after judges in London unanimously ruled the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to hold an IndyRef2 without the prior agreement of the UK Government.
Sturgeon had asked the Lord Advocate to refer the case to the Supreme Court before legislation had passed at Holyrood.
Salmond, who launched the Alba party in 2021, said: "The decision of the Supreme Court today is the result of a bad gamble that hasn’t paid off.
"What should have happened was the Scottish Parliament should have passed the legislation for an independence referendum and forced the UK Government to be the ones that challenged it. Real Parliaments don’t ask for permission to implement their democratic mandate.
"Although the verdict is hardly a surprise it now begs the question of what is the democratic route for Scots to determine their own future? Unionists should beware in their glee as the lesson of history is that you can postpone democracy but you cannot deny it."
Salmond, who led the Yes campaign in 2014, said SNP ministers now had a "responsibility to find a way forward".
He added: "They have led the national movement down a complete blind alley to the Supreme Court which astonishingly has gone as far as rejecting Scotland’s right of self-determination.
"That’s what happens when you go to the wrong court with the wrong question. Today‘s decision must now be the spark that ignites a new popular movement like that of the Yes campaign of 2014.
"The Alba party have led the way on parliamentary interventions in the UK Parliament and we call on others to join us. This must also be matched by a civic campaign of protest and action across Scotland and an independence convention to steer the campaign.
"Scotland’s future must be placed back in Scotland’s hands - not a parliament or a court in London."
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