Scottish Independence ‘not a punt’ on the country’s future, says McAllan

Scottish independence is “not a punt”, Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan has said on the final day of the SNP conference.

Ms McAllan spoke in the hours before party leader and First Minister, John Swinney, was due to address conference, blaming high bills and a stagnant economy on Scotland being part of the UK.

But asked if she was asking the country to gamble on independence and the situation potentially worsening, the Housing Secretary dismissed the idea, pointing to a recent document published by the Scottish Government.

“We don’t believe it to be a punt,” she said.

“We have just, in the last couple of weeks, published a very detailed, quite dispassionate, economic prospectus for independence.

“One of the main things that we’ve done in that work is look at countries like Denmark, look at countries like Ireland, very similar to Scotland in many ways and yet they enjoy higher standards of living, they are wealthier, they are happier, they are healthier.”

She added: “So long as we are blowing in the wind of Westminster chaos, we will never realise that.”

On Saturday, delegates at the conference agreed the party’s strategy for securing another referendum on independence, which set the bar for another vote at winning a majority of MSPs next year.

Ms McAllan refused to say if not winning 65 or more seats in may would be a failure.

“We’re not planning to not get (a majority),” she said.

“And the work now starts to make sure that we do.

“Of course, we want to win the election as well to be returned to government for Scotland because an SNP government fights for Scotland every day and the same cannot be said of our opponents.

“We will fight for that majority and I’m not going to give in on that prospect until the votes are being counted next May.”

If the SNP fails to get a majority, Mr Swinney’s position as party leader remains secure, Ms McAllan said, as she added she believes the First Minister will “lead us to independence”.

Speaking earlier on Monday, on BBC Radio Scotland, the Housing Secretary said the pursuit of independence will “never, ever be off the table” for the SNP, regardless of how next year’s election goes.

Mr Swinney is due to speak on Monday afternoon in his final conference address before the election in May, where he will equate the current political climate to that of the Thatcher era of the 1980s and 1990s and claiming “revulsion” with Westminster’s “race to the right” north of the border will ultimately lead to independence.

“On Westminster’s watch, the basic essentials of life: energy, food and more, are becoming more and more expensive,” he is expected to say.

“In many ways, the deep-seated problems facing the UK right now are a culmination of decades of failed Thatcherite economics.

“An entire system, accepted by the Westminster parties, of being intensely relaxed about some people becoming filthy rich while everyone else struggles to get by.

“It was in part Scottish revulsion at the policies of Margaret Thatcher that catapulted Scotland towards the creation of a Scottish Parliament, and the rebirth of self-government.

“We became, in Westminster language, a ‘devolved nation’.

“Today, I believe it will be revulsion at Westminster’s race to the right that will change Scotland’s status again.

“From a so-called devolved nation, to what we can be: a modern, outward-looking, inclusive, compassionate country.”

Ahead of the address, Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said the people of Scotland “won’t be fooled”.

“Our NHS is on its knees, with record waiting lists and thousands forced to turn to the private sector, violence in schools is rising, and the housing emergency is worsening by the day,” she said.

“The SNP has had almost two decades to get it right, but things are only getting worse.

Meanwhile, Scottish Tory deputy leader Rachael Hamilton accused the First Minister of “playing to the nationalist gallery to distract from his party’s atrocious record”.

“He has been at that heart of that government for almost all of the 18 years the SNP has been in power, but still he prioritises an obsession with independence over Scots’ real priorities,” she said.

“After all that time, it is laughable he is saying that the SNP are not to blame for the state Scotland is in, or that another divisive push for independence is the fresh start the country needs.

“It is time for John to move on.”