THE SNP are to hold their autumn conference online in mid-September, The National can reveal.
Dates for the event, which will take place from September 10 to September 13 virtually, were agreed at the party’s National Executive Committee meeting on Saturday.
It will be the second time Nicola Sturgeon’s party has held its conference online because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In April, the SNP held their spring conference virtually because of social distancing measures needed to prevent the spread of infections.
The event is likely to be dominated by discussions about independence, with SNP president Michael Russell unveiled on Saturday as the new taskforce leader.
The First Minister has said she wants to hold a second independence referendum by the end of 2023 so long as the pandemic has passed.
But since her election victory she has been accused of “going cold” on the independence campaign by former First Minister Alex Salmond, who now leads the Alba Party. He revealed on Friday that his party’s conference would take place on September 11 to 12 at Greenock Town Hall.
The clash in conference dates has provoked some irritation in the smaller independence party.
One senior Alba source said: “It’s a bit petty to announce a conference date on the already publicised date of the inaugural Alba conference when we arranged our conference in consultation with independence movement groups to try avoid clashes as much as possible.
“However, perhaps we should announce the date for an independence referendum in the autumn of this year, considering how cold the Scottish Government have allowed the constitutional issue to go, we would be happy for the SNP to follow suit on that.”
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