THERE is “no shortcut to independence” John Swinney has insisted, as he urged Scots to elect an SNP majority to Holyrood in 2026.
On Monday, the First Minister declared that winning a majority of SNP MSPs at the next Scottish Parliament election is the essential route to securing a second independence referendum.
Swinney is set to bring a motion forward at the [[SNP]]’s upcoming conference, abandoning his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon’s position that a pro-independence majority of [[SNP]] and Scottish Green MSPs constitutes a mandate.
Speaking at an event in Falkirk, Swinney told The National that there was a “logjam” and to break it, voters would need to elect an [[SNP]] majority to Holyrood, as they did in 2011 under Alex Salmond.
The party returned 69 MSPs in total that year – 53 constituency seats and 16 regional seats.
“That's the way we can say to the Westminster Government we must make progress on the question of independence through a referendum,” Swinney explained.
“I'm going to say to voters in Scotland they can use their constituency vote to elect an SNP government and the regional vote to vote for independence, and create that majority in the Scottish Parliament which will deliver an independence referendum just as it did in 2011.”
The National pointed out that recent polling didn’t have the SNP on track for a majority, and asked if Swinney’s plan fails, would independence be put on the back-burner by the party. In response, the FM said: “Well, I want to make sure that we have a credible route to deliver independence. In 2011 we did that.
“We got a majority of SNP MSPs into the Scottish Parliament and a referendum, and I think we have got to take bold action to break the log jam.
“And that bold action is repeating what we did in 2011 so that we can secure the referendum and secure the future of the people of Scotland.”
Swinney said that he would make an appeal to the public on the “merits” of independence, but that “ultimately” it was up to voters.
“I’ve believed in independence all my adult life, and I'll make that case to people between now and the elections in May,” he added.
“I will work with other parties to encourage a democratic upsurge so that we can have a democratic expression of the views of the people of Scotland.
“People must be able in Scotland to exercise their choice on the constitutional future of our country.
“We cannot be in a voluntary union and not be able to express a desire to leave that Union if we choose to do so.”
Asked if there was pro-independence majority including MSPs from other parties after the election, if he would consider that a mandate,
“Well, I'm putting my pitch to the people of Scotland,” the FM said.
“I think anyone that looks at the political history of Scotland can see that. The one occasion on which a referendum on independence came about [was] because there was a majority of SNP MSPs elected to the Scottish Parliament.
“I don't think there's a shortcut.
“That's what we've got to achieve in May, and that's what I'm determined to achieve.”
Earlier this month, we exclusively revealed Swinney’s three-point plan to achieve Scottish independence.
He said that building support for independence, upping the pressure on Westminster to allow Scotland to assert its right to choose through a democratic referendum, and urging the public to vote SNP at the election would form the three prongs of his strategy.
There was a mixed response from independence supporters.
