Blow for Sunak’s Scotland Visit as Poll Shows Crisis of Confidence in the UK

Nearly two-thirds of Scots think life in the UK is going to get WORSE

ALBA PARTY say that a “Crisis of Confidence” in the UK provides an opportunity for the independence movement to win over undecided voters and those that previously voted No.

Their comments come as a blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s visit to Scotland as a new poll is published today, Monday, that Alba say “ is not good reading for anyone hoping to present a positive vision for the future of Scotland as part of the UK”.

In a survey carried out by FindOutNow on behalf of Alba Party, respondents across Scotland were asked: Do you believe that the next 5 years living in the UK will be better or worse than the last 5 years living in the UK?”

An overwhelming total of 63.8% said that the next 5 years living in the UK will be worse than the previous 5 years.

Only 12% of those asked thought the next 5 years would be better.

And things get worse for Labour Party and Tory aspirations for Scotland to stay part of the UK as a majority of respondents that voted for both parties in 2019 think that the next 5 years will be worse than the last 5 years.

Chris McEleny, Alba Party’s General Secretary, has welcomed the poll findings saying that the data shows that there is an underlying opportunity for the independence movement to capitalise on “despair” people feel for the future of Scotland as part of the UK by presenting a “positive vision” for the future of Scotland if independent.

Alba Party, led by former First Minister Alex Salmond, will soon hold their 60th pro independence public meeting of the past year.

McEleny says that by presenting people in Scotland with facts and a positive case for independence “there is now a sizeable majority of people in the country that think the future as part of the UK is bleak so by listening to their views and answering their questions we have an opportunity to build a sizeable majority in favour of Scottish independence.”

Salmond’s Alba Party want the next General Election to be contested as “Scotland United” for independence with an electoral pact between parties that favour independence being established to enable a majority of won by Scotland United at the General Election to be used as a mandate to enter into independence negotiations with the UK Government.

Alex Salmond’s party believe that this strategy will make the next election in Scotland about how many seats pro independence candidates take from the remaining unionist seats instead of how many seats the SNP will lose to Labour based on poll projections.

Commenting Alba Party General Secretary Chris McEleny said:

"On the day that Rishi Sunak has made a trip to Scotland this poll is grim reading for both his Tory Party and the Labour Party. Both are vying to be the next UK Government but their own voters think that the next five years living in Scotland as part of the UK will be even worse than the last five years - and that was a period that we left the EU, had a global pandemic and the Tories crashed the economy.

"This underlying crisis of confidence in the future of the UK should be an opportunity for the independence movement. By offering a positive vision of what an independent Scotland can achieve we can give people the facts and the confidence to choose the hope of an independent Scotland over the fear of just how bad the future will get if we stay part of the UK.

"Scots don’t need to settle for the despair of staying part of a dysfunctional United Kingdom, if we form a pro-independence pact to contest the next General Election as Scotland United for independence then we can achieve an overwhelming mandate to bend Westminster to the will of Scotland."