John Swinney to host independence debate with at SNP National Council
Details of the key policymaking body have been released, with half of the day dedicated to an open forum with SNP leader John Swinney, to allow members to "directly put their views to him and for him to share his opinions on those".
The council has traditionally met in between the party's conferences to discuss policy positions on a range of issues and act as a 'bridge' between members and the leadership.
READ MORE: 'Free Mo Chara': Kneecap fans raise thousands for legal battle amid terror charge
National Council was abolished in 2018 and reinstated in 2021 with the pledge that two would be held each year.
Where will the council be held?
The event will be held at Perth Concert Hall on Saturday, June 21.
What is on the agenda?
To coincide with the previous meeting in December, the party launched a renewed grassroots campaign in a bid to unite the support for Scottish independence and turn it into a movement.
Swinney has requested time to discuss how best to frame independence in the party's Holyrood campaign ahead of next year's vote with members.
The party said: "The conferences committee agreed to a request from John to give over time at this meeting of National Council for a more substantive exploration of the themes that members feel are an important part of that messaging.
"To facilitate that, the whole of the afternoon session will be an open forum with John to allow delegates to directly put their views to him and for him to share his opinions on those."
Elsewhere on the agenda, delegates will debate:
the introduction of a price cap on credit cards via legislation in an independent Scotland
to make first aid training compulsory in secondary schools
An amendment to put candidates with the most membership votes in each Regional List ballot first on their list in internal elections, and then organise the ranking of the remaining Regional List candidates in each region for the 2026 Scottish Parliamentary election based on specific equality mechanisms
Change 13 months to six months, in rules for how long an individual must be a party member to stand in the 2027 Local Government elections
What has the independence movement said ahead of the council?
Believe in Scotland founder Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp sent an email to subscribers with a message to SNP members who also volunteer with their local Yes groups. He revealed that all he wrote had already been communicated to SNP leadership in meeting with BiS.
MacIntyre-Kemp said: "The independence movement is at a critical juncture. The SNP, as its leading political arm, is struggling to convince even its most loyal supporters that it has a serious plan for delivering independence.
"Yet, because the SNP dominates the movement so completely, to the average voter outside the independence bubble, the SNP is the independence movement."
READ MORE: UK Government urged to publish legal advice on joining war on Iran
He reflected on the recent by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, adding: "The party refused to centre the campaign on independence, the radical change people are crying out for. Without that galvanising message, why would pro independence voters turn out for the SNP?
"The analysis everyone seems to have missed is this: if the SNP fails to offer radical change through independence, voters will drift to Labour. Why? Because they will mistakenly believe that a Scottish Labour first minister might wield some influence with an all powerful Labour Government in Westminster – unlike the SNP, which is simply ignored.
"The SNP's choice is stark: refocus on Scotland and the benefits of independence, or risk losing Holyrood 2026 to Labour and Sarwar. The clock is ticking."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Harvie's last hurrah? Even Frank Sinatra's farewell didn't drag on this long
Thursday was Patrick Harvie's final First Minister's Questions as Scottish Green co-leader. He's standing down to spend more time with anyone but Ross Greer. A sneer in search of a personality, Harvie has never contributed much in the way of wit but he makes up for it with pique. I'm an aficionado of parliamentary spite and Harvie has always had it in plentiful supply. Perhaps he kept some in reserve for his final showstopper, for he used his allotted two questions to spit venom at John Swinney. Harvie reckoned Swinney's anti far-Right summit was little more than a talking shop and only confirmed 'a real sense of drift from the first minister'. Moreover, Swinney lacked 'ambition and leadership', and Harvie 'genuinely struggled to think of a single signature policy that he has delivered in his year in the job'. There speaks a man who clearly missed the Short Life Working Group on Economic and Social Opportunities for Gaelic. He began rhyming off Swinney's sins, such as watering down rental controls, U-turning on a new national park, and failing to make progress on human rights. By now the little cabbage was getting so steamed he was at risk of wilting. He was banging on so much that Presiding Officer Alison Johnson finally stepped in and told him to clamp it. Even Sinatra's farewell tour didn't last this long. Aware that he no longer needed to humour the prickliest cactus this side of the Mississippi, Swinney let him have it: 'I appreciate that this is his last First Minister's question time as co-convener of the Green Party, so saying all that to me might have been his last hurrah.' The First Minister didn't fare as well up against Russell Findlay. The Scottish Tory leader gets a gold star for a splendid piece of work on thuggery in schools and the SNP's 49-page guidelines on excluding violent pupils, which he branded 'tedious, hand-wringing nonsense'. Swinney protested that he was 'listening to the teaching profession', just as he had 'throughout my time as education secretary'. We can only hope for his sake that he wasn't listening too closely. As I recall, the consensus among teachers at the time was made up mostly of words you couldn't repeat in a classroom. This allowed Findlay to have some fun, by reading aloud some highlights. When pupils become violent, the document said, teachers should give them 'a laminated paper with a set of bullet points that tell them to think about their behaviour'. When a wee toerag is engaging in 'unsafe behaviour', educators are advised to start 'a conversation to jointly problem solve with the child'. Disruptive pupils, meanwhile, 'should be allowed to leave class two minutes early'. Personally, I think classroom chairs should be replaced with ejector seats and teachers handed a remote control. The First Minister accused Findlay of 'a failure to address the mechanisms and interventions that are required to solve a difficult issue'. Another reason to consider my idea. We'd hire engineers to make sure the ejector seats had really good mechanisms. The fresh guidance, Swinney said, was intended to 'de-escalate situations' and 'address the underlying causes'. And he was against too many exclusions because those pupils would be 'out on the streets and, potentially, able to become involved in criminal activity'. That's how Ronnie Biggs got started, you know. Teacher put him out of class for talking once and next thing you know he was robbing trains. Later in the afternoon, minister Ivan McKee was sent out to announce plans to save £1billion a year in waste, in what is being nicknamed 'McDoge' after Elon Musk's venture during the early months of the second Trump administration. Given that the task of reining in government misspending proved too much for a man who puts rockets in space, I'm not holding out hope that Ivan McKee will do much better.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
A £1bn bonfire of SNP quangos and bloated public sector? Don't hold your breath!
Quangos will be merged and jobs axed under SNP proposals to strip £1 billion a year of costs from Scotland's 'bloated' public sector. In a blueprint described as 'word soup' by unions and opposition politicians, measures considered will include cutting spending by a fifth on the 'corporate functions' or backroom costs of the Scottish Government and other public bodies over the next 10 years. Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee said it included proposals to 'remove, amalgamate or change' the number of public bodies, as well as sharing backroom services between different organisations. New guidance on redeployment and severance policies for public sector bodies will also be introduced, while there will be a greater shift towards digital services and communications. Opponents dismissed the proposals as a 'wish list' and condemned the lack of details about where the savings would be made and which quangos will be asked. Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Craig Hoy said: 'After much hype, the SNP government has produced a 49-page wish-list of word soup that fails to mention waste once. 'It begs the question as to why the SNP have not thought to make these savings at any point over their 18 years in power while they have been wasting taxpayers' money on a colossal scale. 'There is still an astonishing lack of detail as to where these savings will be made, or what quangos will be axed. The public simply will not trust the SNP to suddenly tackle the enormous waste they have presided over.' McKee said: 'Through the tools at our disposal, the efficiency workstreams in our strategy will reduce identified costs on Scottish Government and public body spend on corporate functions by 20 per cent over the next five years, and that equates to an annualised £1 billion cost reduction by 2029-30. 'This will require every part of the public sector to reduce the cost of doing business to prioritise the front line. All public bodies are already required to deliver best value, but this is about going further and faster. It is about taking all available opportunities to introduce and embed efficiency through automation, digitisation, estate rationalisation, and changing the delivery landscape. 'This is about delivering significant change - including structural reform in government and for public bodies, where that is needed.' He said there needs to be 'better joined-up services' and the public sector needs to be 'ready to reshape our workforce', and added: 'Everyone recognises that things must change, but that creates challenges, as well as opportunities, for employees. 'So we will work with partners, staff and trade unions to ensure we have the right number of people in the right roles to deliver real and meaningful change, and that staff very importantly are empowered to make services better.' During his speech, he also admitted that 'despite increased investment, public satisfaction with services has fallen'. The document published yesterday set out 18 different 'workstreams' where reforms can be introduced, as well as some specific proposals. Most of the measures still lack full details or costings and will continue to be worked on by officials. One proposal is to 'remove, amalgamate or change the number of public bodies where doing so will increase efficiency, remove duplication and improve service delivery', as well as to 'identify duplication across public bodies and work with those bodies to share processes/services'. Other plans propose to share services between different bodies, while the document also promises to consider new 'ways of working' for staff. It proposes 'a collective approach to recruitment, promotion and performance management' across public bodies, and a review of reporting and scrutiny requirements. It also promises a shift towards digital services, with 25 per cent of all Scottish Government, agency and quango correspondence by digital means by 2030, which it said would save £100 million a year. A pilot of a Scottish Government app as 'a gateway to personalised public services' is also proposed for this financial year, with the first use expected to be for 'proof of age'. Data on corporate function costs will be collected and published on all public bodies to 'drive efficiencies' and remove duplication, while new financial targets will be set for operating and staff costs. The plan also talks about 'promote best practice guidance for workforce change', including the approach to redeployment and severance policy. The Scottish Government will also 'further develop our shared services thinking and propositions across a range of services'. Trade union leaders hit out at 'illogical' cuts to staffing at a time of growing pressure on services. STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said: 'Whenever government ministers speak of public sector 'efficiencies', workers anxiously hold their breath. 'These cuts, prepacked as reforms, miss the mark entirely. Simply put: you can't fix public services by cutting the very people who keep them running. 'Talk of reducing headcount while NHS waiting times spiral, A&E departments are overwhelmed and social care is in crisis is as reckless as it is illogical.' As Mr McKee unveiled the proposals, fiscal experts demanded a full roadmap to public sector reform. At an event hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: 'The Fiscal Commission and others are pointing out that we have a significant gap in the way we spend public money compared to the money that we're receiving, so there are difficult choices coming our way as a country.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Back to school...now MSPs to be taught 'fiscal literacy' in bid to improve decisions
For those getting into politics, one would think it a basic requirement. But calls have been made to teach new MSPs about 'fiscal literacy' in a bid to improve decisions around tax and public spending. The Scottish Parliament's finance committee has released a new report which demands greater transparency from SNP ministers about budgets. It also calls for action to improve the ability of MSPs to make decisions and scrutinise them. It comes amid concerns about the damaging impact of the SNP's tax policies on the economy. The report, published today (FRI), highlighted that some witnesses told the committee that 'fiscal literacy' should be encouraged amongst all MSPs so that there can be a more 'mature' approach. It said: 'The committee agrees with witnesses that enhancing the fiscal literacy of all MSPs would help to support more effective scrutiny of budgetary matters and potentially encourage a more mature wider debate around the spending and tax decisions taken by Government. 'We therefore intend to write to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to ask that a comprehensive fiscal literacy training programme be put in place through the induction of new MSPs elected at the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections, and through continuous development for all members throughout the five-year cycle.' The committee also concluded that improvements are required in the strategic financial planning by the Scottish Government, and that significant, long-term fiscal pressures in Scotland can no longer be avoided. Finance committee convenor Kenneth Gibson said: 'We believe the Scottish budget process, and its building blocks, remain fit-for-purpose. However, the way in which it has operated in practice this session has been far from ideal, and improvements are now needed. 'Our recommendations in this report are therefore intended to ensure that the objectives of the budget process - including improved transparency and awareness, responsiveness to emerging fiscal and policy challenges, greater influence and better outcomes - can now be fully met. 'Our view remains that improvements are also required in the Scottish Government's strategic, financial planning. This should be supported by an improved quality of data and key documentation published by the government, within the timescales expected by Parliament.' Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Craig Hoy said: 'This damning report from the committee needs to be an urgent wake-up call for SNP ministers.'
