MORE than 40 SNP branches have backed a challenge to John Swinney’s independence strategy ahead of the party’s annual conference.
Members have come together after the First Minister’s motion to party members was revealed in The National, after he urged voters to deliver an SNP majority in Holyrood in order to secure a second independence referendum.
The group opposing the motion are set to meet at St Matthew’s Church in Perth on August 9, to strategise on amendments ahead of the conference in October.
The members' motion submitted for approval reads: “Conference instructs the Party to prioritise obtaining a mandate from the sovereign Scottish people to deliver independence.
“This will be possible by achieving a majority of the popular vote on the sum of the Independence Supporting Parties’ List Votes in the 2026 Scottish parliamentary election."
The plan diverges from Swinney’s, which set out that a mandate for a referendum is only attainable with a majority of SNP seats in Holyrood.
“We are done asking for referenda. Never again will we accept a Scottish [[SNP]] leader or First Minister going cap in hand to Westminster for permission to leave the Union. That time is past,” the group has said in an invitation to members to join the [[Perth]] meeting.
Members are arguing for the threshold for a mandate to be lowered and include votes cast for Alba and the Scottish Greens.
It has been proposed by members in Oban and Lorn, Tweeddale, and Helensburgh.
Veteran activist Graeme McCormick, one of those leading the opposition, said: “As you can imagine in the SNP, there are lots of views on how to achieve independence. A few of us who have been involved in the movement for a long time came together to propose this plan.
“If we get a majority of pro-independence votes on the list, we’ll open negotiations with the UK Government around independence. If the negotiations aren’t successful, then we’ll move to dissolve the Union. It’s perfectly legal to do so.
“Our plan is coming from members with experience of how states work, we aren’t just dewy-eyed ‘the dream will never die’ nationalists.
“We’ve invited John to come and speak with us and look forward to discussing this with him. I think the strength of what we have requested is clear.”
McCormick (above) previously looked to enter the SNP leadership contest and risked derailing John Swinney’s appointment as First Minister. He also drew headlines in 2023 when he ran for the role of [[SNP]] president at the party’s annual conference.
He added: "We have intentionally not gone public to give the SNP members their place, but as it’s now in the public domain and John has already indicated his initial line of thought publicly, we think that it is fair that the people know that SNP policy will be debated and clarified at our National Conference in October."
An invitation to members states: “We are delighted to let you know that we have 43 branches supporting our motion to the SNP conference.
“You are a crucial part of this initiative and now we want representatives to meet with us to prepare together for the next stage.
“The day will be an opportunity for us to meet one another, to decide together how we will take this initiative forward, and to plan strategic amendments to the resolution that will allow us to get lots of points about how we see ‘the path to independence’ into the conversation at conference."
Alba and the Scottish Greens have spoken out in favour of the motion.
