Broken Record

Alex Salmond is a backbench Westminster MP these days, but you'd be forgiven for thinking that Scotland's former first minister is the official voice and face of the SNP. 

Because he's been banging on about Indyref2 forever, even during the great EU referendum  when he spent most of his time talking up the case for independence instead of promoting in a no-holds barred way the case for Scotland and the UK remaining in Europe.    

As someone who voted Yes in the 2014 referendum I'm afraid to say that Wee Eck's broken record routine is having quite the opposite of its intended effect.

When is the real First Minister going to rein him in?

  

Broken Record (07/06/16)

The SNP strike me as a kind of political version of the Stepford Wives, at times, with their strict discipline and rigid adherence to the party line.

So much so that the nationalists make New Labour seem like unruly anarchists by comparison. 

But there are signs of life and real political debate inside the SNP with news that Humza Yousaf, an up and coming MSP from Glasgow, has poured cold water on the calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence.

Alex Salmond, the former SNP leader, bangs on about the case for Indyref2 at every conceivable opportunity and, as I said the other day, he is beginning to sound like a broken record.

I imagine this is getting on other people's nerves as well as mine, not least because it is a distraction from the real issues at stake in the EU referendum.



http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14533770.Snap_independence_poll_after_Brexit_vote_undesirable__Humza_Yousaf/

Snap independence poll after Brexit vote undesirable, Humza Yousaf

By MICHAEL SETTLE - The Herald

A snap Scottish independence poll after a Brexit vote would be undesirable, a senior SNP figure has insisted.

Humza Yousaf, the Scottish Government’s transport minister, has made clear that, personally, he would not like a second referendum on Scotland’s future in such circumstances, noting how it would “make the argument for independence very difficult”.

The SNP MSP, said to be close to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, is the first senior Nationalist figure to come out so strongly against a quick post-Brexit independence referendum.

His view is in stark contrast with some of his colleagues, who believe the Scottish Government should move “while the iron is hot”.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/eu-referendum-alex-salmond-says-brexit-would-spark-indyref2-1-4145055

EU referendum: Alex Salmond says Brexit would spark Indyref2

Alex Salmond and Iain Duncan Smith on LBC. Picture: Contributed

By MARK MCLAUGHLIN - The Scotsman

There will be another Scottish independence referendum if there is a majority vote at Holyrood, according to Alex Salmond.

The former first minister said his successor, Nicola Sturgeon, has “a democratic mandate” to propose another referendum if there is a “material change in circumstances”, such as Scotland being taken out of the European Union.

But eurosceptic Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith insisted Scots do not want “another never-ending referendum in Scotland every time something changes”, during a head-to-head debate with Mr Salmond on LBC Radio.

Broken Record (26/05/16)

Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie did the nation a big favour yesterday by calling on Alex Salmond to put his monstrous ego to one side and stop campaigning in the great EU referendum.

For weeks now Mr Salmond has been calling for a more positive campaign while criticising the Remain side's tactics, but in every public statement I've heard Wee Eck quickly moves on to his favourite theme which is that a No vote on Europe will result, within two years, in a second referendum on Scottish independence.

Now I voted Yes in the 2014 referendum, but I have to say that Alex Salmond is really off message here and is  beginning to sound like a broken record.

So I take my hat off to Willie Rennie for having the courage to call a spade and spade - and tell Mr Salmond to give it a rest.

        

Rennie calls on Salmond to withdraw from EU campaigning

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP today said that former First Minister Alex Salmond is behaving like a not-so-secret agent for the leave campaign and called on him to opt out of EU campaigning before he does any more damage to the remain cause.

Mr Rennie was speaking after Mr Salmond again used media appearances to argue for a second independence referendum and criticised the official remain campaign instead of making the positive case for Scotland and the UK remaining at the heart of Europe.

 Commenting, Mr Rennie said:

“Alex Salmond is behaving like a not-so-secret agent for the leave campaign. He spends more time rubbishing the official remain campaign and promoting Scottish independence than making the positive case to remain in Europe.

"This week in Parliament, MSPs from all parties made the clear, passionate, positive case for Scotland remaining part of the EU. But Alex Salmond seems more interested in using the Europe poll to advance the cause of Scottish independence than actively working to keep us in the EU.

“Too many senior figures in the SNP are approaching this 2016 referendum with a 2014 mind-set. Alex Salmond is a serial offender.

"His threats about another independence vote may encourage his supporters to back Brexit.  His attacks on the remain campaign are undermining it and risking Brexit.  On both counts he is risking our place in the European Union, not supporting it. Alex Salmond should opt out of the campaign before he does any more damage."