On the afternoon of 13 October, First Minister John Swinney addressed his fellow SNP party members at their annual conference in Aberdeen.
His message to both the party and Scotland rang clear: “We all face a choice. Decline, decay and despair with Westminster government. Or hope, optimism and ambition with Scottish self-government.”
Although Scottish Independence is not new on the SNP political agenda, Swinney’s ‘Scexit’ plans appeared exceedingly high on his priority list. His first goal, as told at the conference, is to win an SNP majority in Holyrood’s May elections.
The effect of the SNP winning majority seats in Scottish Parliament could sway Westminster into allowing another referendum, similar to how the SNP winning majority seats in 2011 led to their 2014 referendum, in which 55.3 per cent of the Scottish public voted to remain.
Swinney’s push for independence was wrapped in criticism towards his “revulsion at Westminster’s race to the right.”
He pictured Prime Minister Keir Starmer as a politician who “stole Jeremy Corbyn’s clothes and now he’s dressing up as Nigel Farage”, while making reference to Starmer’s anti-immigration ‘Island of strangers’ speech by inferring that Scotland is “never an island of strangers”.
Alongside his criticism of Starmer, Swinney proposed plans to sponsor visa applications for care workers coming to Scotland. He argued older people “must not pay the price” for Westminster’s hostility towards immigrants, which has left social care services “crying out for staff.”
As former Conservative Minister Michael Gove told the BBC, he believes the Scottish public’s desire for independence will come down to the SNP’s efficiency this year at improving public health services.
In line with Gove’s observation, Swinney made his intentions clear at the Conference that there is “no more important issue” than public services, followed by an announcement to implement ‘walk-in’ GP services to bring down NHS wait times
Ahead of Holyrood Elections in May, Polling from More in Common has found the SNP could win by a “shy majority” due to a “fragmentation in the other parties.”
So, with Labour’s growing unpopularity with its right-leaning rhetoric, and the rise of Reform dividing the Conservative vote, could the SNP pave their way into power and give Scotland the “fresh start” it needs?
Image by Ulia Makoveeva