John Swinney has said there could be an independence referendum in 2028 if the SNP wins a majority in next month’s Holyrood elections, adding he would want to “press on” with such a vote “as quickly as possible”.
The Scottish First Minister also insisted it would be “achievable” for Scotland to become an independent nation within 18 months if voters backed it in a referendum.
He told the Sunday Times this was based on the “experiences and timescales we had before”, citing the timetable set out by former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond in the run-up to the 2014 vote.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said the SNP leader’s comments “make it crystal clear that he’s deadly serious about breaking up the UK and it would be naive to think otherwise”.
Mr Findlay said: “From day one of this election campaign he’s put his lifelong independence obsession front and centre.
“I’m hugely concerned that if Swinney achieves a majority, Sir Keir Starmer will meekly capitulate to his referendum demands.”
Leading Labour UK ministers – including the Prime Minister – have previously dismissed SNP calls for a second independence vote.
However Mr Findlay insisted that “Labour are too weak to stand up to Swinney”, adding that Reform UK – led in Scotland by Malcolm Offord – is “relaxed about another divisive referendum”.
Mr Findlay’s comments came after Mr Swinney told the Sunday Times that Scotland becoming independent within 18 months of a referendum vote would be “achievable” and “eminently reasonable”.
The SNP leader said: “It’s achievable because of the experiences and timescales we had before.
“We had a referendum in 2014, following an election in 2011, and the expectation was that by 2016 Scotland would be an independent country. So I think that’s all eminently reasonable.”
Asked if there could be a referendum as soon as 2028, Mr Swinney said: “That would be my expectation, because I want to press on with it as quickly as possible.”
Despite the SNP having lost the four election campaigns fought while Mr Swinney has been leader – for Westminster in 2001, Holyrood in 2003, the European Parliament in 2004 and the 2024 general election – the First Minister stressed that “obviously I want to go into this election with the objective of winning it”, adding that his party is “in a very strong position to do so”.
Looking back to when he took over leadership of the party, he said: “When I came in the door in May 2024, the SNP was well behind in the opinion polls and now we’re well ahead. And that’s happened under my leadership.”
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “No-one buys John Swinney’s flimsy pretence that this election is about independence.
“This is a desperate attempt by John Swinney to avoid talking about the SNP’s shameful record in Government and embarrassing lack of ideas for the future.”
She accused the Tories of being “happy to play the SNP’s game in a desperate bid to turn back the clocks to a time they were relevant”.
She said: “This election is about getting rid of this tired SNP Government, protecting the future of our NHS, delivering opportunities for young people and an economy that works for working people – and only Scottish Labour can deliver that.”
Scottish Liberal Democrats deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain MP meanwhile said: “There’s a touch of Trump to John Swinney’s insistence that completely impossible things will just magically happen. He must think independence supporters are pretty gullible.”
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