Scotland on a pathway to independence, says Swinney

Scotland is on a pathway to independence, First Minister John Swinney has claimed.

Mr Swinney unveiled a new independence paper on Wednesday which claimed households would be £10,000 per year better-off outside the UK, but provided little else in terms of new detail on the Government’s plans.

The paper was unsurprisingly criticised by political opponents, with Tory leader Russell Findlay asking Mr Swinney if he was “having a laugh” during a raucous First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.

Mr Findlay hit out at the use of civil servants to produce the 91-page paper and the accompanying technical document.

“This is a paper with no solutions, it does nothing to help people’s lives here and now, it’s an outrage that it’s been produced by Scottish civil servants,” he said.

“So, will John Swinney stop wasting any more taxpayers’ money on such nonsense?”

Responding, the First Minister said: “The issue that Mr Findlay has got to address is that the arguments that he puts forward for the status quo are now completely and utterly threadbare.”

Opponents of independence, the First Minister said, told Scots that bills would come down, the country’s place in Europe would be assured and there would be financial security – all of which, he argued, had not happened.

“The arguments against Scottish independence have collapsed since 2014 and Scotland is on a pathway to independence,” he added.

The Scottish Tory leader also questioned the name of the paper, titled A Fresh Start for Scotland, saying the First Minister cannot offer such a thing.

“(John Swinney) has been in the SNP government for more than 20 years, he was Nicola Sturgeon’s and Alex Salmond’s right-hand man, up to his neck in every SNP scandal,” he said.

“Ferries, gender self-ID, SQA exams, named persons and many more.

“He ran down Scotland’s economy, then he ran down Scotland’s education system.”

The Scottish Tory leader cited the Scottish social attitudes survey, released on Thursday, which showed faith in the Scottish Government is at the lowest level on record.

The First Minister said his Government was focused on improving the lives of Scots, including by keeping prescriptions and tuition fees free, while pointing to the 47% support for Scottish independence in the survey, up from 27% since 1999.

“I can see the direction of travel in Scotland, and it’s going to independence,” the First Minister said.