A PROMINENT SNP MP has effectively called on Nicola Sturgeon to work with Alex Salmond and his breakaway Alba party in the fight for independence.
Posting a picture of herself and the former First Minister on Twitter, Joanna Cherry QC said it was “important to keep cross party lines of communication open” within the Yes movement.
Ms Sturgeon, who fell out with Mr Salmond in 2018 amid sexual misconduct claims against him, has ruled out working with him and called his political comeback a “hindrance” to the independence cause.
The pair also gave conflicting evidence to a Holyrood inquiry this year about each other, with Mr Salmond saying his predecessor misled parliament - a resignation offence.
But Ms Cherry, the MP for Edinburgh South West, who was mentored by Mr Salmond, said collaboration was necessary.
She wrote: “As we take forward a campaign toward the next referendum we will need cross-party working and co-operation.”
She also said it had been “great to meet up with old friends”, referring to Mr Salmond and his business partner, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, another former SNP MP turned Alba member.
Great to meet up with old friends last night. Important to keep cross party lines of communication open. Particularly within the #Yes movement. As we take forward a campaign toward the next referendum we will need cross-party working and co-operation https://t.co/fdXT3rgEKg
— Joanna Cherry QC (@joannaccherry) November 24, 2021
Despite their shared goal of independence, the idea that the SNP and Alba should work together is a controversial given the bitter rift between the parties’ leaders.
Mr Salmond launched Alba in the spring in a doomed attempt to deliver an independence ‘supermajority’ at Holyrood via the proportional list system.
Alba polled 1.7 per cent nationwide and failed to win a single seat.
It has two MPs - Neale Hanvey and Kenny MacAskill - but both were elected under an SNP banner and then defected.
In the run up to the Holyrood election, Ms Sturgeon categorically refused to work with Alba.
She said: “I have no intention, and no plans to work with Alba.
“I’m ruling out, having any kind of, you know arrangement with Alex Salmond or with Alba.
“I have no plans, no intention of having any kind of arrangement with Alex Salmond.”
She also dismissed Mr Salmond’s supermajority pitch to voters as “daft rhetoric”.
During the 2014 referendum, the SNP led the Yes Scotland coalition which included the Scottish Greens and Scottish Socialist Party.
Since Alba’s launch, Mr Salmond and his party have repeatedly criticised Ms Sturgeon for being too cautious in her approach to securing independence, accusing her of failing to overcome Boris Johnson’s block on Indyref2.
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