Kenny MacAskill has called on the pro-Independence movement to ditch the pursuit of another referendum and instead rally behind a plebiscite election, branding the current approach a “political dead end.”
The Alba Party leader’s comments came in response to SNP leader John Swinney’s first major speech as First Minister, in which he pledged to seek a pro-Independence majority at the 2026 Holyrood election as a mandate for a second referendum.
While MacAskill welcomed Swinney’s focus on securing a majority in favour of Independence, he insisted that the time had come to abandon the referendum route entirely.
He argued that the door to another official referendum was firmly closed after the UK Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish Parliament does not have the legal authority to hold one without Westminster’s consent.
“That path was shut off,” MacAskill said, “by the folly of the First Minister’s predecessor appealing to the Supreme Court.”
Instead, he urged the wider Independence movement to embrace a new strategy—fighting the next Holyrood election as a de facto referendum on Scotland’s future.
“The ballot box is the gold standard, not a referendum,” he said, insisting that only a plebiscite election could deliver the mandate needed to finally move the cause forward.
MacAskill pointed to recent economic blows as evidence that the need for Independence has never been more urgent.
With the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery and what he described as the continued mismanagement of Scotland’s vast energy wealth, he warned that time was running out to act in Scotland’s national interest.
“Votes for Alba on the list will not only help to achieve an Independence majority,” he said, “they will supercharge the mandate for Independence.”
The Alba Party has long advocated for using elections as plebiscites, arguing that referendums can be easily blocked by Westminster, while democratic elections are a clearer and more direct expression of political will.
The divide between Swinney’s continued pursuit of a negotiated referendum and Alba’s call for a plebiscite election now marks a defining fault line within the wider Independence movement.
As Scotland heads toward another defining vote in 2026, questions remain over which route pro-Independence parties will rally behind—and whether they can agree on a common strategy to achieve their shared goal.
