SNP members must “keep heart, keep the heid and keep the faith” as they push for independence, Ian Blackford tells the SNP annual conference.
In an online address delivered on Sunday, Mr Blackford issues a call for unity in a message similar to that of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's yesterday.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon insists Scots have a ‘right’ to another independence vote
According to the SNP's Westminster leader, the goal of the party is to elect “an independence majority” at the 2021 Holyrood elections which will then hold a referendum on the country’s constitutional future.
Mr Blackford speech comes the day after a rift between one of his MPs and the leadership grew wider.
In an interview with the Times on Saturday, Joanna Cherry called for an end to the “cult of leader” at the top of the party – whether it’s Alex (Salmond) or Nicola, or anyone else” – to be replaced with a more “collegiate” approach to internal debates including how best to accelerate Scottish independence.
The MP said that a working group should be formed to discuss routes to Scotland’s severing of ties with the UK, including a “plan B” if Westminster again blocks a vote on the matter.
“Our plan, our job and our focus is winning an independence majority at Holyrood next May. We have our candidates in place, we have momentum, and we have a leader our nation trusts,” reads Mr Blackford's speech.
“We have all come a long way – and we are now within touching distance of independence. But just as we have travelled all this way together – we can only complete this journey together.
“My message to all of us is this: Keep heart, keep the heid and keep the faith. A new Scotland – fairer, greener and European – is now ours to win.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel