Alba’s financial difficulties due to fraud, Kenny MacAskill claims

The Alba Party’s financial difficulties are due to the party being defrauded, Kenny MacAskill has claimed.  

It comes as the party’s leader announced over the weekend that it was unlikely to put forward candidates for the Scottish Parliament election in May, because of a lack of funds.  

Police Scotland has been probing alleged inconsistencies in the party’s accounts since May.  

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast this morning, MacAskill said the party was in a “very difficult position”.  

He said: “You can have a great deal of wishful thinking, but you also have to have a practical reality.

“And unfortunately as a result, we believe, of a fraud perpetrated upon us, the Alba Party finds itself in a very precarious position.”

MacAskill said Alba was not in a position to meet all of its financial obligations or fund an election campaign.

Four members of the party have offered to take over Alba to ensure it can field candidates in the election. Tommy Sheridan, Christina Hendry, Angus MacNeill, and Suzanne Blackley issued a joint statement over the weekend that the current leadership "feel unable to continue".

MacAskill has said he expects to continue as leader of the party.

He said: “The decision to stand as Alba Party is a decision for the Alba Party and will be made by the national executive committee. It will not be made by any individual.

“It will be for the national executive committee – not from me as an individual or indeed from Tommy Sheridan or Angus Brendan MacNeil – it's for the national executive committee collectively.”

The party was founded by the late former first minister Alex Salmond in 2021. However, it only managed 0.5 per cent of the vote in Scotland in the last general election.