JOHN Swinney tonight was unable to say how he would deliver independence – despite promising to put the issue on the first page of the SNP’s election manifesto.
The Nats leader said he would stick to the vow made by his predecessor, Humza Yousaf, to put independence “page one, line one” of the document aiming to woo voters.
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But, during an interview on STV News, the First Minister repeatedly was not able to set out how exactly he would be able to push independence through, in the face of opposition from Westminster.
Asked what mechanism there is to deliver independence, he said: “Well, the key thing is that we’ve got to maximise support for the SNP because Scotland is never going to become independent unless the SNP is strong.
“And if people in Scotland want our country to have a different future, which is a future that’s not lumbered with austerity, not lumbered with Brexit that we didn’t vote for, not lumbered with a cost of living crisis that’s a product of Westminster mismanagement, we’ve got to maximise the SNP vote to give us the greatest chance of succeeding.”
But pressed on how he intends to deliver independence, Mr Swinney said: “Well, what I think voters want to hear from me is an alternative to the continuation of the damage that Westminster is doing to Scotland.
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“That’s what voters want to hear, they want an alternative agenda, and the alternative for Scotland is to take control of our affairs and to make sure that we don’t have decisions taken that are against our interests.”
But quizzed on where the opposition of both the Tories and Labour at Westminster to a referendum now leaves his party, he said: “We’ve got a democratic argument here and people are going to the polls to have the opportunity to express their democratic voice.
And I want them to express powerfully and emphatically through the ballot box by voting SNP that they want our country to have a different future as an independent country.
“No Westminster government can stand in the way of the democratic wishes of the people of Scotland.”
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Asked if he would stick to Humza Yousaf’s pledge to put independence “page one, line one” in the SNPs’s manifesto, Mr Swinney said: “Yes.”
It comes after Rishi Sunak announced a surprise General Election date on Britain — sending the nation to the ballot box bang in the middle of the Euros on July 4.
Campaigning will be in full swing as the schools break for summer, Andy Robertson’s Scotland boys head to Germany and Taylor Swift launches her UK tour.
The Prime Minister leapt on news of tumbling inflation to take a massive gamble on his chances of staying in No 10. He said: “I will fight for every vote.”