Alex Salmond has said “the tide is rising again” in support for Scottish independence, almost ten years on from the 2014 referendum.
The former first minister attended pro-independence rally Hope Over Fear at George Square on Saturday.
The Alba Party leader and former first minister addressed the crowd, which turned out with a sea of Saltire flags in Glasgow city centre.
Salmond told STV News that as people reflect ten years on from the independence referendum, many are “ready for battle again”.
STV News“I think [the mood] is starting to turn, there’s been a lot of discontent and demotivation because of the lack of a referendum despite successive mandates over the last ten years,” he said.
John Swinney was the latest First Minister to declare a mandate for a second referendum, stating that if the SNP won the majority of Scottish seats during July’s general election, the Scottish Government would be “empowered” to begin negotiations.
However the party dramatically lost its majority on July 4, losing 38 seats in Westminster and dropping down to just nine MPs.
STV NewsSalmond claimed that this week’s news that Grangemouth’s oil refinery is set to close in 2025 and cuts to pensioners fuel payments have led some people to say “enough is enough”.
Salmond continued: “We’ve had ten years of economic austerity, there’s been huge pressure on living standards of families, but you come to turning points and right now we’ve got Scotland’s biggest industrial complex under mortal threat, we’ve got hundreds of thousands of Scottish pensioners being threatened with fuel poverty in our land of energy plenty, so lots and lots of people in Scotland are going to say enough is enough, lets get back in the road of self determination and independence and use our own resources to benefit our own country.”
UK ParliamentThe former first minister’s comments came as the SNP’s Westminster leader said both sides of the Scottish independence debate should join together chart a course to a second independence referendum.
Stephen Flynn accepted it would take “bravery” for both independence supporters and unionists to take part in such a process.
His comments came as he said he did not believe voters “would say no again” if another vote on Scotland’s future in the UK was to be held.
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