A former SNP minister has branded the Scottish Government’s independence proposals “crap” as he called for a new approach for obtaining a referendum.
Alex Neil, who served as a Cabinet minister under Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond, has also demanded clarity over the First Minister’s plan to use the next General Election as a de facto referendum.
The MSP from 1998 to 2021 spoke to the Daily Record after the Supreme Court ruled last week that Holyrood cannot legislate for another vote without consent from Westminster.
The SNP /Green government has produced three papers this year in its Building a New Scotland campaign. The aim is to answer some of the questions people had during the last referendum in 2014 around currency, borders and the economy.
All three papers, Independence in a Modern World, Renewing Democracy Through Independence and A Stronger Economy with Independence, have been met with mixed reviews with many believing they fail to answer the tough questions.
Neil believes there needs to be one document for a referendum that is a “more persuasive and exciting prospectus for independence”.
He said: “If you read the three papers so far, they’ve been crap in terms of persuading people to vote for independence. They don’t come near the quality that is needed, the research and the arguments needed to persuade people and I think an independence prospectus is needed so that all the questions, all the issues are in one document.
“We’ll have to be far, far more convincing and present a more persuasive and exciting prospectus for independence than the ones outlined in those papers. The focus has to be on building up the support for independence and campaigning for it, and publishing an independence prospectus that answers the basic questions on currency, borders and pensions etc.
“Until we do that and excite people then it doesn’t matter what technique, what process you use to get a referendum. Nothing is going to happen until we have people power. We have to mobilise people behind independence to an extent that Westminster cannot ignore us any longer.”
Following the Supreme Court ruling Sturgeon said she would fight the next national election - likely a general election in 2024 - as a de facto referendum.
The former Health Secretary said there needs to be consistent support of around 55 per cent for independence for the UK Government to take Holyrood seriously.
On the de facto referendum, he added: “I am very nervous about the so-called de facto referendum because I think in the current political atmosphere there are so many people concerned about the cost-of-living crisis, the state of the health service and other factors including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s going to be a very tall order to get 50 per cent plus one of the vote.”
Neil wants a clear independence strategy going forward and urged those at the SNP’s special conference in the new year to map out how they achieve it.
He said: “We need clarity. What are we asking for a mandate on? Is it a mandate for independence negotiations or a mandate for a referendum? At the moment that’s not clear.
“This is the wrong way round, we won’t get anywhere by any process whatsoever until we build up the support for independence much more consistently and to a higher level that we’ve got at the present time.
“We need to build consistent support for independence up to at least 55 per cent or north of that. If we get to that position then Westminster will have no choice but to concede a referendum.”
Neil also hit out at the suggestion by SNP MP Angus MacNeil about dissolving Holyrood and using the subsequent election as a de facto referendum.
He added: “I think we’ve got to get ourselves into a much stronger position in terms of support for independence. I think the time for this is the 2026 Scottish Parliament election. I think we could win such an overall majority and in those circumstances Westminster would have no choice but to concede a referendum.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The Scottish Government has a clear democratic mandate both to offer people in Scotland a choice over their future and to ensure that choice is an informed one."
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