Exclusive: Alex Neil Warns SNP Has "Lost Touch" and Should Focus on Improving Lives of Scots
Key Highlights :
SNP members will debate the party’s independence strategy at their conference in Aberdeen this weekend, with senior Nationalist Alex Neil warning the party has “lost touch in recent times” and should be focusing on improving the lives of ordinary Scots.
Humza Yousaf’s plan to achieve Scottish independence has been called “devoid of credibility” following the SNP’s hammering at the Rutherglen by-election, with Neil calling on Yousaf to drop a motion due to be debated at the SNP conference which sets out how next year’s general election could be used as a stepping stone to independence.
The motion states that if the party wins the most seats, the Scottish Government will be “empowered to begin immediate negotiations with the UK Government to give democratic effect to Scotland becoming an independent country”.
Neil, who retired as an MSP in 2021, said his party had “lost touch in recent times” and should be focusing on improving the lives of ordinary Scots. He told the Record that Yousaf should drop the motion as part of a wider reset of his leadership.
It follows Labour’s win of almost 60 per cent of the vote in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election last week, which saw the party achieve a 20.4 per cent swing from the Nationalists.
Neil said he was not surprised by the scale of the SNP defeat, saying: “I’ve thought for months we were heading in that direction because we have stopped listening to the people. We’re not concentrating on the big issues. We should be massively expanding housebuilding and addressing the issues in education, and ditching stuff that’s for the chatterati.”
He added that the SNP should focus on building up support for independence, saying: “Throughout the crisis in the SNP, support for independence has remained high. In my view, it would not take much to get it up to 55 per cent and above. When you get to that level, Westminster cannot say no to the majority of the Scottish people - if there is clear, consistent support for independence. That's the prerequisite for a referendum. So the overriding priority should be addressing day-to-day issues.”
The SNP has yet to comment on Neil’s remarks, and the party’s conference will be a chance for members to debate the strategy for achieving independence, and how to build up support for the cause.
