Nicola Sturgeon made a plea for unity in the SNP as veteran nationalists battle over plans to secure a thumping pro-indy majority next year.
It comes after the Record revealed how Dave Thompson said he’s quitting the party to form an Alliance for Independence which he hopes will mop up nationalist support on Holyrood’s regional vote.
The SNP are expected to dominate the first-past-the-post count next May, which could leave the party with only a handful of proportionally elected regional seats.
Thompson, an MSP between 2007 and 2016, believes SNP voters could add as many as 24 pro-indy MSPs by lending their vote to his single-issue outfit.
Sturgeon, in an interview with the Scotland on Sunday newspaper today, warned against the gamble.
“History is littered with examples of political parties that start talking to each other as opposed to the public,” she said. “ I don't think that's where the SNP is generally.
"I haven't had the head room to think about it, but now you are making me think about it, there does seem something odd about a political party that is sitting after 13 years in power, with record opinion poll ratings and the biggest ever support for independence, agonising over what's gone wrong."
Sturgeon said voters can “take it as read” that she’ll be hoping the SNP get both votes - for constituencies and regions - at the election in May.
The First Minister also said the coronavirus crisis gave her a new perspective on leadership and independence.
Opinion polls suggest a majority of Scots would back a Yes vote if a referendum was held now.
Sturgeon said she hasn’t “at any point” weighed up decisions on whether it makes indpendence more likely.
But she noted voters are seeing the “benefits of autonomous decision making”.
Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said the public is becoming "disenchanted" by the SNP despite polls showing the party is way ahead in the polls.
"The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted Sturgeon’s long-standing failures in the likes of education, justice and health," he said.
