NICOLA Sturgeon has said she doesn’t want to get into “an arm-wrestling competition” with her critics within the Yes movement about who is hungrier for independence.

Although the First Minister did not mention anyone by name, it appeared to be a lightly veiled swipe at her predecessor Alex Salmond.

The Alba Party leader yesterday told the Foreign Press Association that Ms Sturgeon was a great communicator but "in terms of weakness, I think she's far, far too – she's too timid on the independence question”.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon is far too timid on independence, says Alex Salmond

Ms Sturgeon made her comments in a Q&A after launching the SNP manifesto for the Holyrood election this morning. 

She insisted she wanted independence as much as any other Yes supporter, but she also wanted to persuade No voters, not just preach to the converted.

Boris Johnson has already ruled out Indyref2 until a generation after the No vote of 2014, meaning the 2050s.

The SNP manifesto says the party wants to hold Indyref2 before the end of the 2023, with elections to an independent Holyrood pencilled in for 2026.

However Ms Sturgeon stressed the timing was “Covid permitting”, and there would be no referendum until the health crisis had passed.

That drew fire from Mr Salmond, who has said a pro-independence Holyrood should demand the Scottish Government opens negotiations with London in “week one” after May’s election.

The Herald:

Ms Sturgeon said she would not be distracted from “the hard, patient work of building support” for independence “by people who pretend there are easy answers or short cuts”.

She said: “I want independence just as much as any other supporter on independence wants it.

"One of the reasons I’m not that interested in a sort of arm-wrestling competition about who wants it more is that I actually do want to deliver it.

“This conversation within parts of the Yes movement about who’s the biggest believer and who wants it most quickly, that might be appealing to certain parts of the movement of which I am part - those of us who already converted.

“I suspect it does nothing for those we need to persuade. Because if we don’t persuade more people than we did in 2014 we won’t become independent.

“I would love independence yesterday. I would love independence to have happened in 2014, before that even.

“But I want it to happen because a majority of the people of Scotland come together to say this is right for our country, and I believe we’re closer to that know than we’ve ever been through the hard patient work of building support.”

Two former SNP MPs and a clutch of councillors and party office bearers have defected to Alba Party partly on the grounds there is not enough urgency in the SNP on independence.

READ MORE: Tom Gordon - Something doesn't smell right about the Alba Party

The list-only party claims a “supermajority” of pro-independence MSPs at Holyrood would put pressure on Boris Johnson to grant Indyref2, or legitimise other options if he refused.

But Ms Sturgeon said that approach neglected the need to persuade the undecided. 

She said: “Actually, you start to sound as if you’re not interested in persuading those who need to be persuaded, so you probably push people away rather than pull them towards us.

“I’m serious about leading this country to independence just as I’m serious about leading it first through Covid.

"If you want people who make the already converted feel more spirited about it, or if you want someone who can hopefully do that but also persuade the undecided, that’s what I’m offering.”