Nicola Sturgeon rules out working with Alex Salmond in push for independence

Nicola Sturgeon has unequivocally ruled out working with Alex Salmond following the Holyrood election in May even if she required his party’s help to ensure a second independence referendum.

The leader of the SNP added that a legal referendum – preferably before the end of 2023 – was the only “credible” option for those wishing to see Scottish independence based on what parties were offering at this election.

The First Minister also criticised the constitutional argument from Alex Salmond that negotiations around independence should start on day one of the new Scottish Parliament.

Ms Sturgeon said that wanting to “jump over and bulldoze your way to independence” would risk pushing undecided voters away from the movement.

She added that a simple majority of pro-independence MSPs, be that through an overall SNP majority or with the Scottish Greens, would provide a legitimate mandate for a second independence referendum and one Boris Johnson would find difficult to deny.

Ms Sturgeon also said she was “sadly not surprised” by her former friend and mentor’s failure to answer questions on whether Russia was responsible for the poisoning of the Skripals in Salisbury.

The First Minister added she “won’t always recognise the person I was close to all these years ago” when watching Mr Salmond today.

Speaking to members of the Scottish Parliamentary Journalists’ Association, Ms Sturgeon said the return of Mr Salmond to the political frontline was a “hindrance” to the independence movement, rather than an aid.

Nicola Sturgeon has ruled out working with Alex Salmond in the next Holyrood session should she need his help to deliver Scottish independence.

Asked whether she would work with Mr Salmond, Ms Sturgeon said she had “no plans, no intention” of any arrangement and she was “no longer accountable to Alex Salmond”.

She said: “I’m ruling out, having any kind of arrangement with Alex Salmond or with Alba, but what I said last week I don’t get to decide what other parties and other MSPs, vote for and vote against,

“But I have no plans, no intention of having any kind of arrangement with Alex Salmond.”

Asked on whether she would take a call from the former first minister to discuss independence tactics, the First Minister added: “"I have a feeling that Alex won't be keen to pick up the phone to me any time soon."

Pressed on whether she would pick up the phone to call him if the arithmetic in Holyrood required it to secure a referendum, Ms Sturgeon said “No”.

The SNP leader added a simple majority of MSPs, whether gained by the SNP or through a Green/SNP coalition as suggestion by Thursday’s Savanta ComRes poll for The Scotsman, would provide the mandate for a referendum, adding it was time to “knock on the head” that a ‘supermajority’ was required to back indyref2.

Labelling a ‘supermajority’ as “daft rhetoric”, she said SNP plans to pass legislation for a referendum through Holyrood should the Prime Minister refuse to a section 30 order would lead to Boris Johnson in an “absurd” position of legally challenging a “democratic majority”.

Mr Johnson has repeatedly said he would simply say ‘no’ to Scottish Government requests for indyref2, arguing the “once in a generation” vote in 2014 meant another should not take place for several decades.

Asked whether she backed alternative tactics to gain independence such as peaceful protests and starting negotiations immediately after the election proposed by Mr Salmond, Ms Sturgeon said none are “a substitute or an alternative” to a victory at a referendum.

She said: “The idea that you need a plan B because Boris Johnson is going to say no to an independence referendum on the strength of a parliamentary majority for an independence referendum, and your plan B is to say to Boris Johnson, well instead of us having an independence referendum let’s just negotiate independence without a referendum and somehow he’s going to agree to that, just doesn’t even pass the first test of credibility.

“The way we overcome Westminster opposition to a referendum, helpfully, is also the way we win the referendum, which is continuing to persuade people, to win people’s confidence and trust, and build that majority support for independence.

“You can vote for somebody that is offering serious leadership, recognising that you have to do the hard work to overcome challenges, or you can vote for folk who want to offer deceptively simplistic soundbites to actually quite complex challenges.”

The First Minister was also asked whether she accepted the Russian state was behind the Salisbury poisonings after Mr Salmond was labelled a “Putin apologist” for his failure to state whether he believed Russia was responsible for the attempted murders.

Responding, she said she had “no doubt” Russia was responsible, adding “all right-minded people who value and want to stand up for decent values” should say the same.

Asked how she felt about her former mentor’s response, she said she was “sadly not surprised”.

Ms Sturgeon added: “Disappointed, because I do think that everybody who thinks they’ve got a role to play in politics, whether I think that is well advised or not, should be mindful of the values of our country and the values we want to project internationally and the reputation of the country internationally.

“I look at him now and won’t always recognise the person I was close to all these years ago. That’s something I have had to come to terms with over the past couple of years and I’ve probably come to terms with it more now than I have in the past.”

The former first minister had criticised his former protégé over her “lack of progress” on the question of independence with many defectors to Alba being those who promoted a ‘plan B’ for independence based on a strategy other than indyref2.

Mr Salmond told ‘Barrhead Boy’ there had been a “total lack of progress” around independence and highlighted the potential strength of a pro-independence ‘supermajority’ in Holyrood.

The First Minister said such criticism was “nonsense”, adding that Mr Salmond was first minister for seven and a half years before an independence referendum took place and that she wanted a referendum when Yes had the best chance of winning.

SNP policy is for a referendum to take place before 2023, however the First Minister said the “demands and realities” of Covid-19 could see a referendum potentially delayed beyond that date.

She said: "We have to respect reality in Scotland. We had a referendum in 2014, we then had the Brexit referendum, we have had a pandemic in the last year, circumstances have to be part of the judgement about when it is right to have another referendum and give people the choice but so to does public opinion have to be a part of that.

“I can understand the appeal [of alternative tactics] to people who are frustrated and want independence as quickly as possible, but my job and my duty as SNP leader and as First Minister is not just to tell people the easy things that they want to hear.’”

Reacting, Alba leader Mr Salmond said independence supporters would be “taken aback at the apparent lack of urgency” towards independence, claiming it should be a “priority, not something to be delayed”.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar added that the plans for a referendum by 2023 was proof of Ms Sturgeon’s “blind spot on the constitution”, stating “recovery should be the only priority in the next parliament”.

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, said pro-union voters should “come together” and vote Tory on the regional list to stop an “illegal, wildcat referendum”.

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