John Swinney says Scottish independence will be 'central' to SNP 2026 election campaign

Daily Record

11-05-2025

The First Minister said he would use the next 12 months to push his argument that Scots would be better off if they voted to end the Union.
John Swinney today pledged Scottish independence would be "central" to the SNP's election campaign next year.
The First Minister said he would use the next 12 months to push his argument that Scots would be better off if they voted to end the Union.
‌
The SNP is on course for another election victory at Holyrood in may 2026 despite losing support in the polls from its last win in 2021.
‌
The unpopularity of Keir Starmer's UK Government among Scots and the rise of Reform causing a further split among the pro-Union vote has handed Swinney a huge boost in his bid to remain in power.
But there remains uncertainty over how exactly the Scottish Government can secure the right to hold a second referendum on independence given its comprehensive defeat at the Supreme Court in 2022 on the issue.
"The arguments for independence will be central to the SNP's election campaign for 2026 and that will run through many of the arguments I make in the course of the next 12 months," he told the BBC.
"We're now able to illustrate why Scotland would be better off with independence because we are seeing first hand the actions of a Labour government in Westminster following on from a Tory governments and neither of these governments will give us a pathway back into the European Union which is undermining the living standards of people in Scotland."
Pressed on how he could deliver independence, the SNP leader claimed she would bring people together to show there is a "clear and demonstrable" consensus among Scots for breaking away.
Swinney said: "What I want to do is bring Scotland together because Scotland is currently stuck, essentially because there's an aspiration in Scotland for us to have independence…but we have not got the means to achieve that because of the stances being taken by the United Kingdom government and I want to make sure is I bring people together sufficiently so there's a compelling voice for independence in Scotland.'
‌
He pointed to the 1997 referendum showed a 'demonstrable and clear' consensus of opinion that the country should have its own parliament.
"What I want to make sure is I lead the debate in Scotland in a way that brings people together to reach that conclusion that independence represents the best way forward for Scotland and that we should have the right to choose that," he added.