First Minister John Swinney accused of prioritising independence over the NHS

John Swinney has been accused of prioritising Scottish independence over the NHS and other issues.

The first minister launched a fresh paper on independence on Thursday morning.

Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay, during the first FMQs session after the summer recess, said Swinney was talking up the constitution because he was “desperately trying to get the focus off the SNP’s dismal record of failure”.

And Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the NHS should be the first minster’s priority, arguing that the health service “won't survive a third decade” of the SNP in power.

Swinney said his top priority was fixing problems within the NHS, going on to highlight improvements to NHS waiting lists, the number of GPs and the drop in drugs deaths reported earlier this week.

Findlay said: “More than four out of five business in Scotland fear they might go bust within 12 months. Around one in six people in Scotland are trapped on NHS waiting lists, with tens of thousands forced to pay for private treatment. Drugs deaths are still the worst in Europe, with 4,570 lives lost since the SNP declared a national mission.

“All those issues need the government’s urgent attention now. So why on earth did John Swinney give a speech today all about independence?”

Sarwar said: “This morning, John Swinney showed fixing the NHS will never be his priority. Instead, he’s using independence to hide from his failures and desperately try to cling onto power, and it’s not going to work… Don’t Scots deserve a first minister whose number one priority will be fixing our NHS?”

Swinney defended his calls for another referendum on Scottish independence, arguing that one in four Scots who are eligible to vote now could not do so in 2014. 

He said: “By 2030, a million individuals will not have had the opportunity in Scotland to decide on our constitutional future – one in four of the population will not have had that opportunity to decide how this country should be governed.

“I think when we have a situation with very substantial support in the opinion polls for Scottish independence, the clearly expressed desire of the people to decide on the constitutional future, there should be no roadblocks in the way of the people of Scotland exercising their democratic right to decide on their future.”

At the time of the 2014 referendum, senior figures in the SNP described it as a once-in-a-generation event.

Writing for Holyrood's Annual Review, Swinney argued a generation “has clearly passed”.