John Swinney publishes plan for independence if SNP returned to power
The SNP leader has brought forward his plan for independence - striking a similarity with his predecessors.
John Swinney has vowed to hold an immediate Holyrood vote on drafting a section 30 order for Scotland to have the power to hold a re-run of the 2014 independence referendum on the first day of the SNP being returned to power.
But the SNP leader, who is facing accusations from his opponents of being “breathtakingly out of touch", struggled to make clear whether his plan for the first 100 days of Mr Swinney being returned as first minister are dependent on his party securing an outright Holyrood majority.
He also failed to say if he would pursue action through the courts if the Labour UK government continues to block his plans for a referendum.
Mr Swinney has set the bar high for success ahead of the May 7 election, insisting the SNP needs to win an outright majority, only achieved once previously in the history of devolution under Alex Salmond in 2011, to unlock his plan for independence.
His initial independence plan looks incredibly similar to the strategy pursued unsuccessfully by Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf.
The SNP leader confirmed that “on the first sitting day after the appointment of the new government, we will bring forward a vote of the Scottish Parliament to approve the development of a Section 30 Order to give Scotland the power to hold an independence referendum”.
He added: “The parliament chosen by the people of Scotland, will have the chance to represent the democratic will of the people of Scotland.
“Within the first 100 days, we will publish the draft referendum bill. We propose that the question, as in 2014, is: ‘Should Scotland be an independent country? Yes or No.’
“And we will convene a constitutional convention to help inform the independence referendum bill and start to shape the draft constitution for an independent Scotland.”
But it was unclear whether Mr Swinney’s plans for the first 100 days would only be pushed forward if the SNP secures an elusive majority of MSPs at the election.
Mr Swinney was asked by The Scotsman whether the SNP would have a legal case around the precedent of the 2011 majority leading to the first referendum in 2014.
“I think the precedent argument is fundamental here”, Mr Swinney said.
The SNP leader said that precedent was “a representation of a set of events that have happened and which led to a conclusion which was the holding of an agreed referendum on Scotland’s constitutional future”.
“I think that is an incredibly powerful foundation to our argument”, he added.
Mr Swinney argued that his task is to “make sure we have a practical, tangible means of breaking the log-jam” on independence.
He added: “But it only happens if there is an emphatic SNP win by the election of a majority of SNP MSPs.”
Pressed over whether there could be a legal case based on the precedent, Mr Swinney said: “Nobody has to consider litigation if we just respect the precedent that was designed and created in 2011.”
Questioned over whether his plan for 100 days would only be rolled out if he secures a majority, Mr Swinney said: “I’m simply saying to the people of Scotland - vote for the SNP and give us that majority and this is what we’ll be on with.”
The SNP has held a long-standing position that a pro-independence majority of MSPs in favour of independence, like there was in the last parliament with the SNP and the Scottish Greens, is a mandate to push for independence.
A senior SNP source clarified that “if we’re elected to government, the whole manifesto stands”.
They added that “every manifesto is what you are trying to do as a government”, adding that an SNP majority “changes the likelihood” of those pledges being pushed forward.
The SNP’s blueprint also pledges to launch a first homes fund, start work on ramping up the number of school breakfast clubs and open an additional five GP walk-in centres and set out the location of 14 further facilities, all within the first 100 days of being re-elected.
The document includes rolling out a £2 cap on bus fares and action to cap the cost of a basket of essential supermarket foods, with draft legislation to be published within the first 100 days.
Mr Swinney said: “When I say I am serious about making healthy food affordable for people, I mean it.
“I want the price cap on essential items to be in place by the end of the year. Within 100 days, we will publish the draft legislation.”
He said this would “include proposals, to be developed in partnership with representatives of farmers and food producers, to put in place the necessary mechanisms to ensure that costs are not passed on to them”.
Mr Swinney added: “That’s an SNP government - hitting the ground running for Scotland.”
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: "John Swinney's plot to make the first vote of the new parliament about an independence referendum confirms how breathtakingly out of touch he is with the people of Scotland.
"Instead of focusing on the cost-of-living crisis, jobs, education or the NHS, he's hellbent on plunging Holyrood into fresh constitutional chaos.
"Swinney's new threat to demand another unwanted referendum is a wake-up call to those who think he's not serious about breaking up our country. It's all he really cares about.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat campaign chair, Wendy Chamberlain, said: “Straight from the horse’s mouth: from Shetland to Stranraer, every vote for the SNP will be taken as permission to obsess over independence.
“It won’t end in 100 days either. It’s their plan for the whole Parliament.”
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