Alex Salmond to address Glasgow independence rally on Saturday during King’s Coronation

Former First Minister of Scotland and ALBA Party Leader Alex Salmond will attend, and address, the All Under One Banner (AUOB) pro-independence march and rally in Glasgow. 

Mr Salmond has refuted social media claims that he was attending the Coronation of King Charles.

The Former First Minister made the announcement today during an interview with Andrew Marr on LBC. 

Salmond led the SNP for two decades and is now leader of the pro-independence ALBA Party who advocate for an independent Scotland to have an elected Head of State - a position backed in opinion polling by 55% of Scots. 

Speaking to Andrew Marr, the ALBA Party Leader said that he understands that there was a ballot of MPs and Privy Counsellors to secure an invite to the Coronation but that if so he “didn’t enter it for fear of winning the booby prize”.

Instead Salmond says he will join thousands of independence supporters in Glasgow to rally support for “bending Westminster to the popular will of Scotland on our national right of self determination” 

Mr Salmond wants much more urgency to be deployed by the Scottish Government in pursuing independence and points to record levels of fuel poverty in Scotland whilst £80 Billion is being “seized” by Westminster from North Sea revenues as an immediate reason as to why Scotland needs independence now.

First Minister Humza Yousaf had previously said he would speak at the independence rally on Saturday but later withdrew to instead attend the Coronation. 

Salmond also criticised Yousaf’s decision last week to meekly hand the Stone of Destiny over to be part of the Coronation Ceremony. The Stone had sat under the Coronation Chair since it was looted by Edward I, “Hammer of the Scots”, in the late 13th century. Repatriated to Scotland briefly in the 1950s by nationalist students it was returned in 1995 by a Tory government desperate to restore its flagging political fortunes. It is Scotland’s most ancient and potent historical symbol.

The ALBA Party Leader said that: 

“Humza Yousaf missed a great opportunity as Scotland’s national rights are currently being denied by Westminster. These are exactly the rights which the Stone of Scone symbolises. Yousaf should have politely but firmly refused to send it south until Scotland’s entitlement to self-determination was recognised by London. Such a stand would have ensured worldwide publicity and perhaps turned a corner in his brief, crisis ridden, First Ministership.“ 

Saturday’s independence rally is expected to be attended by speakers from across the independence movement.

Speaking after his appearance on Andrew Marr’s Show,  Alex Salmond said: 

“The Coronation itself is being greeted with growing indifference, not just in Scotland but across the UK. I would be surprised if it’s even a front page story in the nations of the Commonwealth. Few people think that Saturday’s full blown £100,000,000 extravaganza is justified when millions of the King’s ‘subjects’ can’t heat their homes or put enough food on the table.

In Scotland, in particular, the sound of silence is deafening. Most Scots now back an elected head of state for an independent country which means Charles will potentially be the last ever King of Scots. Many people will simply get on with their lives as usual on Saturday, and if they do tune into the Coronation, it will not be  to see a historic moment but more so for a new version of “I’m a Celebrity get me out of here” playing out against the backcloth of Westminster Abbey rather than the Australian outback.

Across Scotland, we currently have pensioners having to wear their coats in their homes to stay warm whilst record amounts of revenues are being seized by Westminster from Scotland’s natural resources. That is why restoring independence to Scotland should be an urgent and immediate priority for the national movement. On Saturday, thousands of independence supporters will march and rally in Glasgow. 

I ask myself, where should someone be if they wish to stand with the people of Scotland as we build a campaign to bend the Westminster establishment to the will of our nation: surrounded by that self same establishment at the Coronation or in Glasgow rallying for independence. I say it is the latter and any self respecting nationalist should be with the masses in Glasgow not the classes in London.”

WATCH NOW: Alex Salmond confirms he will not be attending the coronation.