Alex Salmond says next Holyrood election should be ‘vehicle’ for independence views

Alex Salmond has said the next Holyrood election should be used as a “vehicle” for the Scottish people to express their view on independence.

Nicola Sturgeon has said she will treat the next general election as a “de facto referendum”.

Mr Salmond’s Alba party held a special conference in Perth on Saturday, which was open to the public as well as party members.

It followed the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Scottish Government’s indyref2 legislation and discussed the “way forward” for the independence movement.

An Indyref march in Glasgow

Alba also said there should be “popular demonstration and campaigning” in order to secure Scottish independence.

The party has two sitting MPs – Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey – who were originally elected under SNP banners.

Mr Salmond said: “The clear outcome from this event is that the Yes movement is hereby reconvened.

“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 present 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.”

He said the conference had agreed upon three strategies.

The former first minister said: “This weekend’s event has crystallised three immediate priorities: an independence convention, popular demonstration and campaigning, and a clear preference for using a Scottish Parliament election as the vehicle for allowing the Scottish people to express their view on independence if Westminster continue to refuse to transfer the power to Holyrood.”

The SNP will hold a conference in the new year to define exactly what their proposals for a “de facto referendum” at the next general election are.

Ms Sturgeon announced the conference immediately after the Supreme Court decision on November 23.