John Swinney needs to rethink his strategy over Scottish independence

The National

a day ago

There are rumblings of discontent within the SNP following the party's defeat in the recent Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse by-election. It is reported that a group of 25 senior figures within the party held a private meeting on Monday to discuss John Swinney's leadership and the lack of a strategy on independence. Those in attendance have said that they have warned the First Minister that he has two weeks to come up with a new strategy on independence or he faces a "bloodbath" at the SNP conference due in the autumn. There is deep disquiet both within the SNP and in the wider independence movement about Swinney's lack of emphasis on independence.
The First Minister has previously spoken about the need to boost support for independence among the wider Scottish public in order to break through the current political logjam on the constitutional issue. While it is certainly true that the British political parties can continue to ignore the independence question as long as they can point to a Scottish public, which is more or less evenly divided on the issue, turning support for independence into the settled will of an unarguable majority of the people of Scotland won't happen by magic or by passively sitting back and allowing the British political system to implode and fall prey to far right Anglo-British nationalism in the shape of Nigel Farage and his minions.
Yet it appears to many that this latter tactic is the one being pursued by the current SNP leadership. John Swinney seems to be hoping that public anger with a dishonest and duplicitous Labour party and fear of Farage waiting in the wings will turn voters to independence as the sole alternative to a failed Westminster system.
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This won't work unless there is also a vigorous and energetic push for independence running at the same time. The reality is that without the SNP actively making the case for independence at every turn, all that happens is that the pro-independence vote falls into apathy and despair, and simply doesn't bother to turn out to vote.
The truth is that people need things spelled out for them; they need a leading political party to join up the dots and to make a compelling argument that the only real solution to the failure of the Westminster system is independence. The Scottish media certainly isn't going to do that, and the grassroots independence campaign can all too easily be marginalised and ignored by that same overwhelmingly anti-independence Scottish media.
That only leaves the SNP. If the party of independence won't push for independence loudly and forcibly, many will be left wondering what the point of the party is. You can't break through to an apathetic and disillusioned electorate with quiet managerialism, no matter how competent. Breaking through requires enthusiasm, assertiveness, and a sense of urgency about independence.
The First Minister has made some minimal changes to his cabinet, Mairi McAllan, who has returned from maternity leave, has been given a new role, Cabinet Secretary for Housing. The new Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy is Maree Todd, who takes over the post previously held by Christina McKelvie, who died in March due to cancer. Housing minister Paul McLennan has left government as his ministerial role is being developed into the cabinet role given to Mairi McAllan, and Alasdair Allan will leave his post at the end of this week after assuming the temporary role of climate action.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has unveiled her spending review plans. For Scotland, she has announced £750 million in funding for a supercomputer in Edinburgh, as well as money to redevelop the Faslane nuclear submarine base, although that particular piece of spending is not for Scotland's benefit; it's for the benefit of the UK's unconvincing pretensions to great power status.
After numerous Westminster U-turns and betrayals, funding has finally been announced for the Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire. However, the Chancellor has yet to confirm the exact amount of money that will be provided to the project.
Acorn is based in St Fergus near Peterhead and works with industrial, power, hydrogen, bioenergy, and waste-to-energy businesses who wish to capture CO2 emissions and send them into permanent geological storage under the North Sea.
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However, the technology is controversial, with many criticising it as unworkable and serving only to extend the life of the fossil fuel extraction industry and arguing that should instead be investing the money spent on carbon capture projects to transitioning away from fossil fuels and developing clean renewable energies.
Nevertheless, today's announcement is welcome news for the Acorn project and for jobs in the north east, although we wait to see just how much money is being committed and the timescale for its delivery. As always with Westminster, and particularly with this Labour government, what finally ends up being delivered all too often falls far short of the headline promises, so we can take today's announcements with a bucket of salt.
The SNP's Westminster economy spokesman, Dave Doogan, welcomed the capital investment in key projects like the Acorn carbon capture scheme and the reversal of cuts to Edinburgh University's supercomputer plans, but said these long-term investments were overshadowed by immediate cuts that would hurt millions. He said: 'Every time this Chancellor has made a major financial statement, the pattern has been the same – growth has been downgraded, the markets have wobbled, and unemployment has risen. I fear today's trajectory will be no different.'
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He added: "The Chancellor can't hide from her own numbers and can't mask her party's priorities – Labour is slashing support for disabled people, doubling down on a jobs tax that is already increasing unemployment, and imposing massive real terms cuts to departmental spending that have already suffered austerity."
He warned that Reeves' commitment to her fiscal rules could mean further cuts were waiting down the line, saying: "The other inconvenient truth of this Spending Review is that it might not be worth the paper it is written on by the time we get to the next UK budget."