The SNP have confirmed they are plotting a ‘plan Z’ to break up Britain and push for another divisive independence referendum in Scotland despite receiving a decisive ‘no’ from the people at the last vote. John Swinney has said he is seeking an SNP majority at Holyrood to push for another national vote to decide if Scotland should leave the UK.
Nationalists have concocted a series of bonkers plans to push their agenda after they were comfortably defeated in the 2014 vote. They have included taking the issue to the Supreme Court and using general elections as ‘de facto’ referendums. All have failed and Mr Swinney has now gone back to the drawing board in an attempt to reignite his flagging hopes ahead of next year’s Holyrood vote. While polls suggest the SNP will remain the biggest party, they are unlikely to win a majority.
Support for breaking up the UK has remained largely static since 2014 while voters place it low down on their list of priorities.
Former SNP leader Alex Salmond was able to secure a ‘once in a generation’ referendum after winning a majority at Holyrood in 2012. But SNP figures went back on their vow to respect that vote within hours of the result but have found themselves going round in circles ever since.
Writing in his Daily Record column, Mr Swinney said he will submit a motion to the upcoming SNP conference “proposing that we work to deliver a majority of SNP MSPs in the Scottish Parliament to secure that referendum on independence”.
The move comes as a snub to the other pro-independence party at Holyrood, the Scottish Greens, and rejects suggestions that a pro-independence majority would be sufficient. Scexit supporters have looked to use the Holyrood voting system to gain an independence ‘supermajority’ in 2026.
Mr Swinney’s back-to-the-drawing-board approach to the independence question could be seen by many as a response to the trouncing his party received at the ballot box during the General Election last year.
The SNP lost an astounding 39 seats on July 4, with Labour gaining an impressive 37 and the Lib Dems also enjoying gains. Reform UK also grabbed 7% of the vote share, despite it being their first test of an election.
However, the SNP still remained the second largest party by overall vote share, with 30%, close behind Labour with 35.3%.
Scottish Tory Deputy Leader Rachael Hamilton accused Mr Swinney of being “like a broken record on this divisive issue”. She told the Scottish Daily Express: “In a bid to silence internal critics of his weak leadership, he has thrown diehard nationalists some more red meat on the one issue they all agree on: independence.
“Ordinary Scots are sick and tired of the SNP’s obsession with breaking up the UK. The public want John Swinney to focus on fixing the damage his government has done in decimating essential services such as schools and the NHS at the same time as making Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK.”
The Yes campaign lost the 2014 referendum by 55.3% to 44.7%. Only three out of Scotland’s 32 council areas backed the break up of the Union.