INDEPENDENCE will be “back on the table” if Scotland elects a majority of MSPs who oppose the Union at next year’s Holyrood elections, the Scottish Tory leader has said.
Speaking from his party’s campaign launch in Edinburgh on Wednesday, Russell Findlay urged Scots who oppose independence to support his party, claiming a vote for Reform was a “gift” for the SNP.
After referencing polls which suggest the SNP are on course to win the 2026 elections, the Scottish Tory leader said in his speech: “As a proud Scot, the thought of John Swinney’s SNP getting another five years in power keep me awake at night.
“It troubles me deeply … I worry for everyone in Scotland with ambition and aspiration.
“If the SNP win next year, I worry for Scotland.”
Findlay then sought to draw a dividing line between himself and Nigel Farage, telling party faithful: “Not everyone is worried about an SNP win. Nigel Farage isn't. He's said so himself.
“He said, and this is a direct quote, he's ‘not that worried about the SNP’.
“Nigel Farage says he'd rather put the SNP in power at Holyrood than a pro-UK party. He would gladly gift the SNP another five years in power. Nigel Farage’s Reform might even back them.
He added: “Anyone who would let the SNP into office cannot claim to be a pro-UK party.
“That's why John Swinney isn't scared of Nigel Farage. He is thrilled by him. He doesn't want to confront Reform; he wants to help them.
“It’s John Swinney’s dirty little secret. Publicly he pretends to despise them. Privately he adores them.”
Swinney pledged to oppose Reform UK, saying: “You don’t beat populists by imitating them. You beat them by confronting them.
“We will never do any deals with Farage. Only the SNP will confront Farage and defeat Farage.”
Answering media questions after his speech, Findlay was asked about having mentioned Farage in the context of a new poll which showed his Reform UK could climb to become Scotland’s second-largest party in the 2026 election.
The same poll suggested the Tories would drop to just 13 MSPs, their worst result since devolution.
Asked if that would be a failure of his leadership, Findlay responded: “We've seen lots of different polls saying lots of different things, and that's why I did understand our party does need to change.
“That's what I said when I came here seven months ago, and that's what I'm in the process of doing, because we need to show the people of Scotland that we are the only party who can be trusted to stand up against the SNP.
“We're the only party that can be trusted on the Union, and that's why I'll be fighting for every single vote.
“And that's why, as I said in my speech, anyone voting for Reform is giving a gift to John Swinney."
Asked then what he believed the impact of “the SNP leading a pro-independence majority” at Holyrood after 2026 would be, Findlay said: “Well, inevitably, independence would be back on the table, not that it was never really off the table. That would continue to dominate.
“We would see, inevitably, further SNP tax rises, and we would see schools and hospitals getting worse, as they have done over the last two decades.
“So it fills me with absolute dread the thought of John Swinney leading another government for five years. It would be catastrophic for Scotland.”
Also answering media questions at his own launch, the First Minister said a “democratic majority” of pro-independence MSPs following the next Scottish Parliament election should result in another referendum.
“I think people are learning the very, very, very hard way that you can change the government of Westminster, but it doesn’t change the outcomes for your lives,” Swinney said.
Commenting for Reform UK, councillor Thomas Kerr, who defected from the Tories in January, said: “As all political parties gear up towards Holyrood 2026, Reform UK does so with a spring in our step and passion in our hearts.
“We know Scotland is broken and those SNP and Labour politicians who broke it will be held accountable next year. There’s a lot of ground to cover, a lot of scrutiny to come but Reform UK is ready for the challenge ahead.
“To our opponents, we say, bring it. Scotland badly needs real fundamental change and only Reform UK will fix the mess the mainstream establishment parties have created.”
