Alba Party leader Kenny MacAskill has called on First Minister John Swinney to “get real” about independence, urging him to commit to making the 2026 Holyrood election a clear vote on Scotland’s future.
In a strongly worded letter, Mr MacAskill accused the SNP leadership of “paying lip service” to the cause of independence while failing to seize what he described as a vital moment for the movement.
The former Justice Secretary pointed to the SNP’s 2011 majority win, arguing that it had been achieved against the odds and under the leadership of Alex Salmond.
He said that moment proved the Scottish Parliament could secure a mandate for independence without Westminster approval, but warned that repeating such a majority in 2026 would be “well nigh impossible”.
“I knew Alex Salmond, I worked closely with Alex Salmond,” Mr MacAskill said.
“And I am afraid, Mr Swinney, you are no Alex Salmond.”
He argued that the SNP’s current strategy seeking Westminster consent for another referendum is doomed to failure and risks alienating pro-independence voters who want decisive action.
According to Mr MacAskill, the solution is simple: treat the next Holyrood election as an independence election and seek a mandate directly from the Scottish people.
Under his proposal, the regional list vote, one of two votes cast in Scottish Parliament elections would act as a de facto referendum.
If pro-independence parties win a majority of those votes, he says, that result should trigger negotiations with Westminster to begin the process of leaving the United Kingdom.
“Independence supporters will see this for what it is,” he said of the SNP’s current approach.
“A tactic born of electoral expediency rather than political conviction.
“It is designed to bolster the SNP vote, not to achieve independence.”
MacAskill stressed that Westminster does not have the power to halt Scotland’s democratic will and argued that Scotland’s future should be determined by its people, not by politicians in London.
“The Westminster parties have all refused to allow Scotland to hold a second independence referendum,” he said.
“But it is not in their power to halt the march of Scottish democracy.”
The Alba leader’s comments come at a time when the independence movement is searching for unity and direction.
Pro-independence parties have faced internal divisions over strategy since the Supreme Court ruling that Holyrood cannot legislate for a referendum without Westminster consent.
MacAskill insists that Alba’s plan is the only realistic route left.
He has urged the SNP and other pro-independence parties to include a “clear and unambiguous” manifesto pledge committing to this strategy in 2026.
In recent weeks he has also used public platforms, including demonstrations in support of Palestine, to link Scotland’s constitutional future with wider issues of human rights and international justice.
Speaking in Edinburgh, he condemned what he described as the UK Government’s “draconian” decision to proscribe Palestinian Action, calling it “as disgraceful as it is shameful.”
For MacAskill, independence is not only about leaving the United Kingdom, but about building a new Scotland that uses its natural resources to improve health, wellbeing and opportunity for its people.
“Now is the time for action,” he said.
“Alba has the strategy that will deliver independence, not in the distant future, but in the next election.”
