John Swinney has said that Scotland will have the option of independence as long as he is in charge.
The SNP leader said taking Scotland out of the UK was the reason he got involved in politics more than four decades ago, before adding that it will “remain a significant issue” under his leadership.
Asked whether independence had been put on the back burner since he became First Minister, he told the PA news agency that he had to focus “directly” on Scots’ priorities.
He said: “I think anyone listening to the speech that I set out last week would see that I’m setting out an agenda about how, on a number of different fronts, whether it’s on migration, whether it’s about the economy, whether it’s about Brexit, that Scotland needs the powers of independence to enable us to prosper as a country, and that’s the argument I’ll make in the forthcoming period.
“What I’ve recognised is that the SNP had to make sure that we could address very directly the priorities of the people of Scotland.
“We’ve done that, and we’re doing that, but as we focus on the choices that lie ahead, Scotland’s got to have the option of independence, and they’ll have that under my leadership.”
He added: “Independence has been the reason why I got involved in Scottish politics 46 years ago, and it will remain a significant issue as I take forward my leadership of the SNP.”
Last week marked a year since Mr Swinney took over from Humza Yousaf as First Minister.
It also marked a year until the 2026 Holyrood election. Mr Swinney has pledged that independence will be “central” to the party’s bid to stay on for another record term.
He said a “democratic majority” of pro-independence MSPs – which Holyrood already has – must result in another national vote on leaving the union.
Surveys suggest that Scots remain divided on the issue of independence, with a Survation poll last week putting No at 51% and Yes at 49%.
Since 2014, successive UK governments have denied the SNP’s pleas for a second referendum.
