John Swinney: Why I'm launching a renewed strategy for independence

The National

18-07-2025

Indeed, the current flailing, listless UK Labour Government is a testament, warning of the dangers of getting involved in politics when you don't believe in much.
How else can you explain the huge sense of disappointment and anger that is currently felt by the people of Scotland who voted to reject the Tories – and now see them replaced by such a hauntingly similar – and just as inept – Labour Government.
That experience demonstrates a key point in the political beliefs I have held since my teenage years. Whether we have a Labour or a Tory UK government, Westminster doesn't work for Scotland. It is a lesson that once learnt, can never be forgotten.
Scotland's interests are best served only when Scotland's future is in Scotland's hands. Our nation will only fully flourish when the people of Scotland are in charge of our own destiny with independence.
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Getting back on track
When I returned to frontline political life just over a year ago as leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister of Scotland, I realised I had to restore the credibility of my party and my Government so that we could make – and importantly win – the argument for Scottish independence.
We had to, once more, earn the right to be heard on everything, but above all on independence. We have made substantial headway on that approach, a matter that is evidenced consistently in public polling.
The people of Scotland are listening to the SNP again because the Scottish Government I lead is focused on the issues that matter to them.
We are offering solutions to the ongoing cost of living crisis – with new policies such as the removal of peak fares on our railways. Our cost of living guarantee delivers savings for Scots that aren't available elsewhere. From council tax that is 30% lower than in England, or water bills 20% lower, or no charges for essentials like prescriptions.
We restored Winter Fuel Payments for Scotland's pensioners when Labour chose to scrap them. We are taking bold action on child poverty by lifting the cruel two child cap that pushes thousands of children into poverty – a decision which been welcomed by every anti-poverty charity in the country and which Labour, to their shame, have failed to take at a UK level.
And our NHS is stronger now than it has been for many years, as we get back on track after the huge shock to the system caused by Covid. The challenges are great, but record investment in our health service means that real progress is being made. A&E departments are under pressure but Scotland's A&Es are the best performing in the UK, with over 1 million patients seen within 4 hours last year – equating to around 1 patient seen every 30 seconds.
We are seeing the fruits of all of this as we begin to recover electorally. Over the last 12 months, the SNP have won 13 local government by-elections, a big shift after a 20-month period without a single victory. Although the fact that we did not win the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election demonstrates we have more to do.
Katy Loudon shakes hands with Davy Russell, winner of the by-election
What comes next
Our renewed unity and sense of purpose is clear for all to see, and that too is giving people confidence once again in the SNP, as the leading advocates of Scottish independence. Some good and necessary first steps have been taken, but they have only brought us to the starting line.
We are in the race once again, and leading in the polls ahead of the Holyrood election next year. But my winning post is not one election, it is independence and that is what I am in this job to achieve.
We are on the precipice of a new global age and that demands a bold new path for Scotland. Others speak glibly of a new direction or for the need for reform, but the change Scotland needs is more fundamental. To meet the challenges of this new age, we need a Scotland that is reborn.
We made this case in 2014 and just under half of Scots agreed with us then. The decade and more that has passed has proved those aspirations ever more valid.
Events at Westminster and on the UK stage demonstrate the necessity for the aspirational, ambitious agenda of Scottish independence.
We are all poorer because of a Brexit that Scotland did not support. Yet we are part of a United Kingdom that will not confront that reality. In a UK that is dancing to Nigel Farage's tune, there is no chance of that calamitous decision being reversed.
We are faced with family incomes stagnating, sky-high energy bills, low wages and a failing Westminster economic model that sees a disproportionate benefit for a very few who are already very rich. The UK remains one of the most unequal countries in the world, with government investment piling into London and the south-east, and Scotland little more than an afterthought.
The needs and wishes of Scotland and the rest of the UK are moving further apart.
And we need to be prepared to resolve that.
It's different now
Last time, many people gave the UK the benefit of the doubt, many believing that an incoming Labour government might put things right. But an incoming Labour government has only made things worse.
That means this time, we must win. For the sake of our health, wealth and happiness, we can't allow a Britain that has been broken by Brexit to keep pulling Scotland down. We have a second chance at a fresh start for Scotland and it begins with the election in May 2026.
The evidence is staring us in the face: Westminster is not working for Scotland. Life is just too difficult for too many and the UK is incapable of providing the required, essential boost to living standards.
It's therefore time for the people of Scotland to take our future into our own hands, so that we can ensure our vast energy wealth delivers tangible benefits for our people, including lower household energy bills and a more competitive business environment. So that we can create a dynamic, internationally connected economy, ensuring opportunities for all in an economy that works for all.
That message will lie at the heart of the SNP campaigning right up to the election in May 2026 – a campaign that will once again rekindle a sense of hope and possibility if decisions about Scotland are taken by the people who live here.
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And in doing so, we have to challenge the democratic outrage that Westminster – right now – refuses to acknowledge Scotland's right to determine her own future.
We demonstrated in 2014, that an agreed democratic referendum is the correct means to bring about that Independence. And have no doubt, such a democratic, constitutional approach is necessary if our independence is to achieve domestic and international legitimacy. Something that is essential if we are to receive international recognition and a smooth return to membership of the EU.
That is the path that I want us to walk in 2026. And it means a campaign with three essential elements.
The three-part plan
First, it will be a campaign designed to build the highest levels of support possible for Independence as the best future for Scotland. I will be saying to those who voted Yes in 2014, and who have become independence supporters in the years since, that what they believed in then is just as valid today. They saw that Britain was fundamentally broken, that Westminster couldn't deliver on their dreams and aspirations, and what they saw has come to pass. And now it is time to do something about it.
But I will also be urging people who were not persuaded of the merits of Independence in 2014 to see the state of Britain today and take a different view.
Second, that means building public pressure around Scotland's fundamental national rights. The UK parties speak of a partnership of equals, but those are empty words if Scotland does not have the ability to determine her own future.
We are ready to turn the heat up on Westminster and its anti-democratic stance, mobilising the support, energy and the impetus of people in Scotland behind the simple idea: no ifs, no buts, Scotland has the right to choose.
And third, I want to persuade independence supporters that the way to deliver independence is only with an emphatic SNP win in 2026 and the priority is to do that now. History tells us that only when the SNP is doing well is there any prospect of advancing on Scotland's constitutional cause.
During the next parliament we reach the point where there will be one million people eligible to vote who, last time around, were too young to do so or not even born. A generation has now clearly passed.
It's time for the one change that will actually make a difference for Scotland, for the fresh start our nation needs so badly. It's time for Scotland to craft her destiny by ensuring Scotland's future is in the hands of the people of Scotland.