Salmond accuses Sturgeon of allowing push for second independence referendum to go ‘cold’

Alex Salmond has hit out at his successor, accusing her of not having “enthusiasm” for a second referendum on independence. 

The former first minister, speaking outside Wembley ahead of tonight’s crunch Euro 2020 match between England and Scotland, said Nicola Sturgeon had allowed the constitutional to go “cold”.

Replying, the SNP said only they were “capable of delivering independence”.

The row comes as Salmond’s Alba announced plans for their first conference in September, where, COVID restrictions permitting, they hope to have 750 delegates.

The party say their membership continues to grow, and, they claim, will soon surpass the Scottish Greens and Scottish Tories. 

Salmond said: “It strikes me as passing strange that if you can hold Euro 2020 - albeit in 2021 - if you can hold a Scottish election, and if you can hold the COP26 summit in Glasgow, then why on earth can’t you hold a Scottish Independence referendum?  Perhaps the requisite enthusiasm is not there to push that case forward because the constitutional issue has gone cold since the Scottish election and we’ve got to heat it up again. 

“And if our suspicions are confirmed, then come September the wind from the River Clyde will be blowing firmly in Alba’s direction at our historic inaugural conference on the 11th and 12th September in Greenock Town Hall.”

An SNP spokesperson said: "The only party in Scotland capable of delivering independence is the SNP. Once the pandemic is over, the people of Scotland will be given a choice over their future, whether to put their future in the hands of Boris Johnson or into their own hands with independence."