BBC News 26 March 2021
Former SNP leader Alex Salmond has announced the creation of a new pro-independence party which will stand in the Scottish Parliament election.
He said the Alba Party expected to field at least four candidates across every region of the country.
On Wednesday, Mr Salmond said he would take fresh legal action over the conduct of the Scottish government's top civil servant.
A report by MSPs on Tuesday described the government's handling of harassment complaints against Mr Salmond as "seriously flawed".
The previous day, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was cleared of breaching the ministerial code over her involvement in the Alex Salmond saga.
For months, a small but loyal group in the SNP have been unhappy with the party on independence and other issues.
Many of them supported Alex Salmond during the turmoil of the last few weeks. They are now being offered a political home.
Mr Salmond is pitching it as an opportunity for provide a "supermajority" for independence.
Under the system for Holyrood, the more constituency seats you win, the harder it is to win them on the list. Mr Salmond wants people to use the latter to back his party.
But this is a big moment in Scottish politics.
The SNP have managed to hold a broad pro-independence coalition together. Today that is fracturing.
Whether or not Mr Salmond's new venture is successful, this is a direct challenge to the idea the SNP is the only party for independence.
Mr Salmond said that under his leadership, the Alba Party was seeking to "build a supermajority for independence in the Scottish parliament".
"The party's strategic aims are clear and unambiguous - to achieve a successful, socially just and environmentally responsible independent country," he said.
"We intend to contribute policy ideas to assist Scotland's economic recovery and to help build an independence platform to face the new political realities."
He claimed that if Alba won regional list seats, this could lead to there being 90 or more MSPs at Holyrood who support independence.
Mr Salmond said Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has already dismissed the SNP's request for a second independence referendum, would "find it much more difficult to say no to a parliament and a country."
But Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the people of Scotland deserved more than "score settling" and "old politics".
He said: "We are still in the midst of a pandemic. Lives and livelihoods are still at risk.
"This election must be about our national recovery and the people of Scotland's priorities, not the old arguments between personalities who believe their interest matters more than the national interest."
