Watch out Nicola! Galloway sends BBC warning over election debates – ‘I demand my place’
George Galloway criticises Scottish ‘nationalists’
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Claiming he is the lead candidate among the rival MSPs, Mr Galloway claimed he is the strongest opposition candidate in the race to unseat the SNP. Not only did he call to be involved in the election but insisted he is the best-known “opposition figure in Scottish politics” and therefore must have a place in the debate. In a tweet, Mr Galloway said: “As the lead of 56 candidates across Scotland, six-times elected to Parliament, the best-known opposition figure in Scottish politics, the Leave voters choice to stand up to the SNP I demand my place in your debates.”
The outspoken of the First Minister has long demanded Scotland remain part of the UK amid the SNP’s desire to hold an independence referendum.
Last week, Mr Galloway claimed he will run for the seat of Rutherglen and Hamilton West, the constituency of former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier.
Ms Ferrier is currently the independent MP but Mr Galloway revealed he would stand for the seat if she steps down and a by-election is held.
Mr Galloway is the leader of the Alliance 4 Unity party, which hopes to lock Scotland to the UK.
Amid Mr Galloway’s threat to take on the SNP in May’s Holyrood election, Ms Sturgeon has lost two MPs to a rival party, Alba.
Unveiled last week by former First Minister Alex Salmond, Alba has claimed it can secure a supermajority for independence to take Scotland out of the UK.
Although Mr Salmond only unveiled the party last Friday, two SNP MPs have now left the party to join the rival group.
On Sunday, the former spokesman for COVID vaccine deployment and MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath Neale Hanvey defected from the SNP.
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Despite leaving the SNP, Mr Hanvey insisted his decision had been fuelled by his anger over Brexit.
He told Sky News: “Like so many, I have been angered by our powerlessness in the face of Brexit and share the frustration of many who feel the aspirations of the independence movement are being ignored.
“The Alba Party provides a tonic for our movement with an unashamedly optimistic vision for Scotland’s impending transition to an independent European nation.”
Mr Hanvey joined former Justice Secretary Kenn MacAskill, who joined Alba and pledged to form a group in Westminster.
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He said: “The gamble isn’t going for an independent supermajority, the gamble is remaining in a United Kingdom led by Boris Johnson enforcing austerity and making the world a riskier place.
“This is a chance to deliver the right for Scotland to decide its own future and to reject the right of Boris Johnson to veto Scotland’s right to choose.
“This is about continuing to drive forward the cause of independence.
“Now is the time for Scotland to choose a different way, a different direction, but to be able to do that we require the powers of an independent nation and that’s why Alba was formed and that’s what a supermajority for independence will deliver in May.”
Under Holyrood’s election system, 73 MSPs are elected to represent seats across the country in a first past the post ballot system.
The remaining 56 MSPs are elected by a regional list system in order to make a more representative distribution of the overall vote.
If the SNP wins a majority in the Parliament, they have pledged to hold an independence vote within the year and eventually push to rejoin the EU.
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