"SNP must stop pretending and start acting" says ALBA's MacNeil
Alba's Angus Brendan MacNeil, the former MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar has today (Thursday) challenged the SNP leadership to come clean with independence supporters about their failing strategy and finally accept that begging Westminster for a referendum is a road to nowhere.
In a statement Angus Brendan MacNeil said:
"Earlier this week, SNP Leader John Swinney claimed that 'only an SNP vote can deliver a referendum.' and now we have Cabinet Secretary Mairi McAllan saying 'only a vote for the the SNP in 2026 will make that possible.'
"It’s time we asked the obvious question: Does the SNP have any cast-iron guarantee from Keir Starmer that he will grant a referendum, dependent on how many votes they receive?
“The answer, of course, is no—and they know it.
"This is a desperate and deluded misreading of the political landscape from the SNP, on par with their catastrophic mishandling of the Hamilton by-election. The facts are clear: Westminster will not willingly hand Scotland the keys to independence. The SNP leadership is misleading supporters by pretending otherwise. The SNP must stop pretending and start acting.
"Rather than continuing to chase shadows in Westminster, the SNP should be working with Alba and the grassroots of the SNP who want to change course. Scotland’s future will never be secured by asking permission from London—it must be taken into Scotland’s own hands.
"The way to give the new generation of young people in Scotland the say over their future is to make the 2026 Holyrood election a clear vote on independence—not a plea for another referendum, but a mandate to begin negotiations and assert the sovereign will of the Scottish people.
“The Alba Party stands ready with a plan to deliver independence - not in some distant future, but in the next 2 to 5 years. It’s time for the SNP to stop misleading, stop begging, and start listening to the growing movement to make the 2026 Holyrood Election Scotland's Independence Election."
