Scotland is 'moving backward politically' within the Scottish National Party, says Alex Salmond

Mr Salmond accused First Minister Humza Yusuf of «letting go of the ghost by presenting a coherent independence strategy»; Photo: Ewen Boothman/Anadolu Agency

Former First Minister Alex Salmond said Scotland is «moving backwards politically» as he struck both the Scottish Government and the Scottish National Party.

Party leader Alba said in his New Year message that almost 10 years after the independence referendum, Scotland had experienced a “decade of drift” under the leadership of the Scottish National Party, the party he led.

Mr Salmond, who left the SNP in 2018, said that although the “foundation” of the struggle for independence was the competence of the government he led, it was now “severely undermined” under his successors.

He also accused the SNP, now led by Humza Yousaf, of «having lost heart and presenting a coherent independence strategy».

Mr Salmond's outburst came after election expert Professor Sir John Curtis observed that Mr Yousaf was «not as popular» with voters as his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon. He said some independence supporters were now moving from the SNP to the Labor Party.

Mr Salmond said that after the 2014 independence referendum, «few could have predicted that Scotland would move backward rather than forward politically».

“The transformative impact of the referendum encouraged further positive votes in the electorate for progressive change,” he said.

However, rather than moving forward towards independence, Scottish politicians dithered, delayed and finally dissipated the momentum of progress. It was a decade of drift that caused great harm to the Scottish people.»

'Nothing was as popular as his predecessor'

Mr Salmond announced his resignation as leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister of Scotland after Scots voted to remain in the UK in 2014. He then founded the pro-independence Alba Party in 2021.

He said: «The basis of competence of the Scottish Government, which was the basis on which support for independence grew, has been badly undermined, while the Scottish National Party (SNP) has abandoned the idea of ​​presenting a coherent strategy for independence.»

Sir John , professor of political science at the University of Strathclyde and senior research fellow at the National Center for Social Research, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland that a general election, almost certainly in 2024, could lead to «radical changes south of the border «, with the victory of Sir Keir Starmer's Labor Party.

He added: «North of the border we could also see Labor making significant progress and thereby increasing Labour's chances of winning an overall majority in Westminster.»

Sir John said support for the Scottish National Party was around 43 per cent when Ms Sturgeon resigned and was «only slightly behind where it was at the 2019 general election». He said the party's support is «now around 36 per cent» and the party is «only» ahead of Labor in opinion polls as concerns over the state of the NHS weigh on Nationalist support.< /p>

“The SNP now has a leader, Humza Yusuf, who is nowhere near as popular as his predecessor,” Sir John added. «People don't think he's doing his job as well as people thought Nicola Sturgeon was doing it, even in her final days as First Minister.»

The SNP has been approached for comment.