Alex Salmond has torn into the SNP for "incompetence", claiming the party has "hindered" the plan to achieve Scottish independence.
He also admitted there is no "immediate" way for another independence referendum to be held, criticising his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon for her "ill-fated, kamikaze" Supreme Court case on the issue.
When Sturgeon was first minister, the Scottish Government went to the Supreme Court to see if it could hold another ballot on the future of the union without Westminster’s consent.
But in November 2022 judges there unanimously ruled that the Scottish Parliament “does not have the power to legislate for a referendum on Scottish independence”.
Alex Salmond has torn into the SNP for "incompetence", claiming the party has "hindered" the plan to achieve Scottish independence
PA
Salmond said her “ill-starred, ill-fated, kamikaze venture to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom” had been “just ludicrous from start to finish”.
Asked if he saw a way a second vote on independence could be held, he said: “No, not immediately.”
He said the Scottish Government’s performance in recent years had “hindered independence”.
Asked if devolution had helped or hindered the cause he has championed throughout his political career, Salmond said: “It helped independence when the SNP were a competent government.
“Obviously it has hindered independence when the SNP became an incompetent government in more recent years.”
The ex-SNP leader left the party in 2018. In the run up to the 2021 Holyrood elections, he launched the rival pro-independence Alba Party.
Salmond's attack on the SNP comes just days after the party saw a change of leadership following Humza Yousaf's resignation.
Yousaf resigned after ending the powersharing deal between the SNP and Scottish Greens last week.
Salmond's attack on the SNP comes just days after the party saw a change of leadership following Humza Yousaf's resignation
PA
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
He was facing one vote of no confidence tabled by the Scottish Conservatives, while Scottish Labour had tabled a second vote of no confidence in the Scottish Government as a whole.
Announcing his intention to resign, the outgoing First Minister admitted to having “underestimated” the level of hurt ending the power-sharing deal with the Greens would have.
The outgoing first minister used his final speech in Holyrood to thank those who supported him and shown kindness over the years.