Alex Salmond local election campaign, Bathgate, 29 April 2022

Alex Salmond local election campaign, Bathgate, 29 April 2022

Former First Minister and ALBA Party Leader Alex Salmond is hitting the campaign trail in the final week before polling day in the Scottish Council Elections on 5 May.

Mr Salmond is taking the message that ALBA is the catalyst for change in this Election.

Mr Salmond said “It is votes for ALBA and ALBA councillors elected that will force the real change people want to see in this election.”

Mr Salmond is highlighting the real action which ALBA is prosing to tackle the cost of living crisis including:

- Increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £40 per week

- Extending Free School meals and introducing Free Breakfasts for every nursery, primary and secondary school child

- Providing half a million low earnings households with an annual £500 payment

Mr Salmond was in Bathgate promoting the “Wee ALBA Book”.  He was joined by ALBA candidates for West Lothian Council Gordon Dent (Bathgate), Hassan Mohamed (Fauldhouse and Breich Valley and Phil Noble (Broxburn/Uphall/Winchburgh).

Alex Salmond told the audience: “ALBA success will be the catalyst for change in this Election.  It is votes for ALBA and ALBA councillors elected that will force the real change people want to see.

With no council expected to have a single party with overall control after 5th May, the role of ALBA’s councillors in pushing for change can be the critical factor when it comes to councils and the Scottish Government doing more to help families navigate the cost of living crisis.

“ALBA councillors in Inverclyde have already delivered a £500 annual payment for low income families, but with more ALBA councillors elected, we can go even further and extend this payment to half a million low earnings households across the country.

“Increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £40 per week will benefit 400,000 children across a quarter of a million households while extending free School meals and introducing free Breakfasts for every nursery, primary and secondary school child will make a positive contribution to family budgets.

“ALBA’s plans are costed, credible and affordable.  If ALBA’s Five Point Plan to tackle family and child poverty was fully funded across all of Scotland’s 32 councils it would represent an investment of £1,341million – just over 2% of the total Scottish Government Budget.  It is not the ideas, or the finance that is lacking but the political will.  ALBA success at the ballot box will make sure that the political will exists in abundance after 5th May.”

Welcoming Alex Salmond to the “Wee ALBA Book” Roadshow event in Boghall Parish Church, ALBA’s candidate Gordon Dent (Bathgate) said: “It is great to have Alex Salmond back to promote ALBA’s key pledges for families in Bathgate and across Scotland and, of course, the ‘Wee ALBA Book’ the new case for Scottish Independence.

“People are crying out for information about pensions, currency, benefits, and borders.  The ‘Wee ALBA Book’ provides the facts and sets out how Scotland will trade with the rest of the UK and Europe after Independence.

“Events such as tonight’s Q & A with Alex Salmond invoke the spirit of the first Independence Referendum in 2014 when town halls up and down the land were alive with lively debate.

That is exactly what we need today and the ‘Wee ALBA Book’ can help kick start a positive debate about the future of Scotland and provide the hope that people want to see.”

Pictured: Council candidate Hani Mohamed dances with friends to Kurdish music

Alex Todd | Edinburgh Elite Media