Alex Salmond: Nicola Sturgeon must open immediate independence talks with Whitehall after election

Alex Salmond has said Nicola Sturgeon must open immediate independence negotiations with the UK next month if the Holyrood election results in a nationalist "super-majority" - and another referendum may not be required.

The former First Minister said nationalist MSPs, including those from from the SNP and his Alba Party, would combine to issue a "clear and unmistakable instruction" to Ms Sturgeon's government to open immediate talks with Whitehall on separation.

Despite the ongoing Covid pandemic, he said a standing independence convention would be established drawn from all Scotland's elected politicians "to give support and substance to the Scottish Government’s independence negotiating position."

He said the tactics for achieving the break-up of Britain could be decided later, and a 2014-style referendum conducted with the UK Government's consent was only one of the options available.

Among the other options he claimed were possible were "a plebiscite, or another democratic test as could domestic legal action or international and diplomatic initiatives, as could peaceful and popular demonstration."

However, it remained unclear how any of these supposed alternatives would lead to an independent state recognised by the UK or internationally or why the Prime Minister would agree to any negotiations.

Although the former SNP leader claimed Boris Johnson's resistance would "crumble" in the face of the collective will of the Scottish Parliament and people, polls show only around half of Scots support independence and a minority want a referendum in the near future.

Mr Salmond also insisted that Ms Sturgeon would put aside their civil war, which has seen him accuse her husband of trying to imprison him, and work with him to deliver separation.

The First Minister last week categorically ruled out doing so, after initially stating that Mr Salmond would have to show contrition for his inappropriate behaviour towards women.

However, he said: "I expect all politicians, Nicola included, to accept the verdict of the people and to work with the parliament that people give us." He added: "We are at a stage in Scotland where we have to leave the personal behind."

Ms Sturgeon has previously set out her own route map involving holding a referendum with or without the Prime Minister's consent, after the current health crisis has passed but during the Covid recovery.

The SNP said Mr Salmond's alternative failed "the most basic credibility test" as Westminster would not negotiate Scottish separation and "this kind of nonsense will only make winning independence harder."

However, Mr Salmond's more aggressive strategy means she now faces intense pressure from SNP members to deliver independence more quickly. He mocked her 11-point plan as having “10 points too many”.

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader, said Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon cooperating to "railroad through" an independence referendum was a "nightmare scenario which exposes the reckless Nationalist obsession of inflicting chaos and division on Scotland when all our attention should be on rebuilding from the pandemic."

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's deputy leader, said: "For Alex Salmond to plan independence negotiations in the first week is an insult to all those jobs and livelihoods that are still at risk.

“Nicola Sturgeon cannot endorse this extreme approach to the constitution and needs to be clear that she will not bulldoze this through the parliament with an ugly allegiance with Salmond’s Alba Party."

Mr Salmond unveiled his route map to independence as he launched the Alba Party's national campaign for the May 6 election on the 701st anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, which asserted Scotland's status as an independent nation.

The former First Minister read out an updated version he had written and suggested it would be seen as an historically important document, after Scotland separates from the UK.

Mr Salmond has said he wants to manipulate Holyrood's complicated electoral system to deliver a "super-majority" for independence, with nationalists voting SNP in their constituencies and for his party on the regional list.

The SNP won 59 out of 73 constituencies in the 2016 election but only four on the regional list, which assigns seats to parties using a complicated form of proportional representation that deducts constituency wins.

An opinion poll at the weekend found separatist parties could together win 79 out of the Scottish Parliament's 129 seats on May 6, with the Alba Party winning six.

Ms Sturgeon has accused Mr Salmond and his new party of trying to "game" the electoral system and warned this could backfire by reducing public support for independence.

But Mr Salmond argued that the independence case should not be limited to one party and appealed to his former protegee to put "nation before party", arguing "we need to come together."

He said Boris Johnson had declared he would ignore an SNP victory as the basis for a referendum but the Prime Minister "cannot ignore a parliament and a nation."

"Our task is therefore to give voice to Scotland’s modern Community of the Realm. To demand self-determination. To assert nationhood and the need for respect and equality across these islands," he said.

"That can start in the Scots Parliament immediately following the election of a super-majority of independence supporting MSPs."

Refusing to be drawn on the process that would be used to leave the UK, he said: "The tactics will inevitably evolve with the negotiations but the strategy is to make the achievement of independence a real and overriding priority."

However, he also later refused to say what would constitute a 'super-majority' or what he would do if Ms Sturgeon refused to work with him.

Mr Ross said: "Senior SNP figures have said a referendum could take place this year while Salmond suggests the process should begin immediately after the election.

"The toxic Salmond-Sturgeon psychodrama endangers Scotland's future and only the Scottish Conservatives have the strength and determination to beat the Nationalists and ensure we instead focus on the issues that matter to people."

An SNP spokesman said: "Arguing on the one hand that Westminster will not agree to a referendum even if there is a pro-Independence majority in the Scottish Parliament, but on the other hand that it will agree to negotiate independence without a referendum, doesn’t pass even the most basic credibility test.

"This election is a choice between those who offer serious leadership capable of delivering and those who want to indulge in deceptively simple answers to difficult challenges."