Organisers of a pro-independence rally in Glasgow have told Alex Salmond’s Alba they cannot take part as the Scottish Greens “will not share a platform” with the former first minister’s party.
Believe in Scotland has billed their march on Saturday as a “festival of independence”, celebrating “everything about the country we want to build and sharing our positive vision for an independent Scotland.”
Speakers include First Minister Humza Yousaf and Green MSP Ross Greer, as well as Hue and Cry frontman, Pat Kane and filmmaker Jane McAllister.
The demonstration in George Square is due to be hosted by singer Iona Fyfe and author and model Eunice Olumide.
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In a Facebook comment, Believe in Scotland, said Alba was “the very first organisation” invited to take part.
They said this was because the Scottish Greens “will not share a platform with Alba (which we do not agree with).”
However, they said that after approximately 60 days without a positive response from Alba, they then approached the Greens and secure the involvement of Mr Greer.
“We felt we had to move on and make sure there was not a hole in our speaker roster,” Believe in Scotland wrote.
“The Scottish Green Party were invited to speak and they accepted straight away, as was the case with all our speakers.”
Alba claimed that the description was "misleading".
They say while they were invited to take part in February, they were told only party chair Tasmina Ahmed Sheikh or depute leader Kenny MacAskill would be allowed to address the crowd.
That demand meant Mr Salmond, MSP Ash Regan and MP Neale Hanvey were all unwelcome.
Because of this ultimatum, Alba said they needed to take the invite to the next meeting of their ruling NEC which was in early April.
At that meeting they agreed Mr MacAskill would represent the party, but when they told Believe in Scotland founder Gordon Macintyre-Kemp, he replied to say they were “too late”.
Asked on Facebook if the Greens had given a reason for not sharing a platform with Alba, Believe in Scotland said a motion passed at the party's conference stopped their elected members from doing so.
A Green source said this was not accurate and that no motion had been passed at conference but that the party would only want to be on a platform with those whose progressive values clearly aligned with the kind of independent Scotland they wish to see.
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In a statement, Alba said they were disappointed Believe in Scotland had "allowed the Scottish Green Party to dictate to it which organisations and political parties they deem acceptable".
They said it was "bizarre that Believe in Scotland would not allow a pro-independence party to be part of its rally simply to appease the Scottish Greens.”
Alba party General Secretary Chris Mceleny told The Herald: “To paraphrase Alex Salmond’s speech after the result of the 2014 referendum, the real guardians of progress are not the politicians at Westminster, or even at Holyrood, and they certainly are not AstroTurf limited companies such as Believe in Scotland Ltd, but the energised activism of tens of thousands of people that have refused meekly to go back into the political shadows.
"I predict that at the upcoming General election these very people will be the ones that send Westminster, and those that have settled into the Westminster system, the strongest possible message that Scotland’s future will be in Scotland’s hands.”
Believe in Scotland and the Scottish Greens were approached for comment.
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