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GB News saw the leader of the All for Unite Party, Jamie Blackett, hit out at the SNP over discussions about who the party is intending to give the vote to if IndyRef2 goes ahead. Mr Blackett explained the SNP believed 16-year-olds will win them independence because they “don’t fully understand” the situation.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Britain’s newest TV Channel, he said: “It’s a bit rich of the SNP to argue about gerrymandering the vote.<\/p>\n
“They are the ones who have succeeded in lowering the age of voting to 16 because it’s their perception that young people are more likely to vote for separation because they don’t fully understand what it might entail and have less of a stake in the economy than their parents and grandparents.<\/p>\n
“The SNP have also changed the rules so you no longer have to have a fixed abode to vote.<\/p>\n
“They’re also very keen to allow a vote to anybody who just happens to be a resident in Scotland, whereas I, say my own children who grew up in Scotland, consider themselves to be Scots, have every intention of spending the second half of their lives back in Scotland, will not have a vote.”<\/p>\n
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He added: “I think the gerrymandering argument is a bit weak but I certainly agree we need to win the argument over the unity of the UK.”<\/p>\n
Could the SNP change their name to Alba if they get independence?<\/p>\n
If Scotland voted in favour of independence, the SNP’s name might seem redundant to some.<\/p>\n
The First Minister has previously said she would change the SNP’s name if she could go back in time to when it was founded in 1934, but there are no plans to rename it Alba should her indyref2 bid is successful.<\/p>\n
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Ms Sturgeon said: “I wouldn’t choose the name it’s got just now. I would call it something other than the Scottish National Party.”<\/p>\n
However, she confirmed it would be “far too complicated” to change it now.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the word ‘nationalism’, Ms Sturgeon said: “The word is difficult.<\/p>\n
“I was chatting to Elif earlier on and saying that, if I could turn the clock back, what, 90 years to the establishment of my party and choose its name all over again, I wouldn’t choose the name it’s got just now.”<\/p>\n
The First Minister said supporters of Scottish Independence “could not be further removed from some of what you would recognise as nationalism in other parts of the world”.<\/p>\n
DON’T MISS<\/strong> Alba is the name of the party led by former SNP leader and Ms Sturgeon’s old mentor Alex Salmond, who recently questioned the enthusiasm for another referendum within Holyrood.<\/p>\n SNP officials said repeatedly during the election campaign that the party will seek to hold another vote on the constitution “when the time was right”.<\/p>\n But Alba supporters, many of whom abandoned the SNP when the party was launched, feel the governing party is not moving fast enough on the issue of independence.<\/p>\n Mr Salmond said: “It strikes me as passing strange that if you can hold Euro 2020, if you can hold a Scottish election and if you can hold the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, then why on Earth can’t you hold a Scottish independence referendum.<\/p>\n “Perhaps the requisite enthusiasm is not there to push that case forward because the constitutional issue has gone cold since the Scottish election and we’ve got to heat it up again.”<\/p>\n Mr Salmond also announced the Alba first conference will take place in September in Greenock, as he claims a shift in Government policy on IndyRef2 will push more electoral support towards his party.<\/p>\n He said: “If our suspicions are confirmed then come September the wind frost he River Clyde will be blowing firmly in Alba’s direction at our historic inaugural conference in Greenock Town Hall.”<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the SNP said: “The only party in Scotland capable of delivering independence is the SNP.<\/p>\n “Once the pandemic is over, the people of Scotland will be given a choice over their future, whether to put their future in the hands of Boris Johnson or into their own hands with independence.”<\/p>\n
Brexit battle: Scotland may bend UK rules to help EU citizens [INSIGHT]<\/strong>
Sturgeon’s new currency will ‘take YEARS before earning credibility’ [REPORT]<\/strong>
Panicked Sturgeon lashes out at Boris for plot to ‘rig IndyRef2 rules’ [ANALYSIS]<\/strong><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/139\/590x\/secondary\/If-Scotland-gets-independence-will-Sturgeon-change-SNP-s-name-to-Alba-3112671.jpg?r=1624286949875\")
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