Independence will help tackle alienation, says John Swinney

Becoming an independent nation will help tackle the alienation felt by voters, John Swinney has said.

The first minister said a pro-independence majority of MSPs in the next Scottish Parliament should result in a referendum being held, and that a “significant SNP win” next year would “drive that agenda”.

He was speaking at an event exactly one year ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election, the day after the SNP’s constituency candidates were confirmed.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar were also holding similar events elsewhere.

Swinney said the voters were “feeling disaffected and alienated” since Labour’s general election victory last summer, accusing the UK Government of letting them down.

He also warned that an “ill wind of change is blowing” through UK politics and that Reform UK’s Nigel Farage “could be prime minister” within a few years’ time.

Farage’s party performed well in last week’s English council elections and, according to the polls, is set to overtake the Conservatives as the main challengers at Westminster.

The first minister said the UK Government was “dancing to Farage’s tune” as a result of the threat, adding: “Nigel Farage may not be in office but he’s very much in power.”

He said it was the task of the SNP to “offer a brighter future” outside of the UK and that it was the task of his party to create a “clear majority” of voters “behind a common vision for our country’s future”.

He said: “Westminster has scarcely looked more distant from the people of Scotland and their everyday concerns. 

“For years, Labour told people in Scotland that they didn’t need independence – we just needed to get rid of the Tories and everything will change. No wonder so many people are feeling disaffected and alienated right now.

“The choice is to accept things as they are, or to act differently. What surer way to tackle alienation than with the overwhelming sense of empowerment of becoming an independent nation which is ours to create?

“We can build a winning coalition for independence by showing people what that empowerment can lead to.”

Responding to press questions after his speech, the first minister was pressed on whether a vote for the SNP at the next election was a vote for independence.

He said that “the question of independence can only be settled through a referendum”, but that a “significant SNP win drives that agenda”.

He added: “If there’s a democratic majority in the Scottish Parliament for there to be a referendum on the independence question, and that majority has been elected because people have put that commitment to the people of Scotland, that’s what should happen.”

A poll out today from Survation put the question of Scottish independence neck and neck, with 51 per cent of people saying they favour the Union and 49 per cent backing independence.

The same poll also suggested the SNP would win the next election but fall short of having an outright majority.