Swinney ‘painted himself into a corner’ with independence strategy, says Mackay

The First Minister has “painted himself into a corner” with his party’s independence strategy, according to the co-leader of the Scottish Greens.

John Swinney has long said a majority for the SNP is the only way to secure another vote on independence, not the pro-separation majority currently seen in Holyrood.

The plan puts pressure on the SNP, but also could result in independence supporters backing the party despite their political allegiance aligning elsewhere, such as the Scottish Greens.

But the SNP and the First Minister have again pushed a “both votes SNP” strategy, encouraging Scots to back his party on both ballots and urging votes not to “muck about” by supporting other parties.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast on Tuesday, Gillian Mackay said she “rolled her eyes” when she heard the First Minister’s pitch to voters.

“John will say that because he’s looking for as many votes for his party as possible,” she said.

“We’ve always been really clear that we do have that mandate at the moment and it’s just being denied to us by success UK governments.

“A pro-yes majority in Parliament should be the trigger for another referendum.”

The First Minister, she said, had “painted himself into a corner”, adding: “The Yes movement is not just the SNP and that’s why we’re clear it has to be that pro-independence majority in Parliament to make sure that everybody’s views inside the yes movement are respected.”

Following the 2021 Holyrood election, the Scottish Greens entered into the Bute House Agreement with the SNP and entered Government.

It was the collapse of that deal which ultimately led to the downfall of Humza Yousaf and paved the way for Mr Swinney to take the top job.

His tenure, Ms Mackay said, has moved the party to the centre ground and undone some of the work the Greens had done in Government.

Asked if the party would consider returning to Government, she said: “I think any deal that came forward from the SNP would have to be the right one for us, the right one for Scotland.

“I said earlier there’s an awful lot of stuff that’s gone backwards since we came out of the Bute House Agreement.

“Some things have stalled, some things have actively gone backwards – there’s a lot of trust that’s been broken around that as well.

“So there would need to be some real work put in there to give us some guarantees that anything we would get wouldn’t be rolled back in the same way.”

The SNP, however, has rubbished talk of any post-election coalitions, with the First Minister telling the Press Association last week his party could be expected to lead as a minority government rather than enter into any deal.

The Greens, Ms Mackay added, were the only “party of the left” on the ballot in May in Scotland, saying the First Minister has “moved the SNP more to the centre” and “Anas (Sarwar) and Keir Starmer have dragged Labour to somewhere I never thought they would.”

Referencing Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s call last month for the Prime Minister to quit, she added: “Anas has gleefully – up until recently – gone along with Keir Starmer and his attacks on disabled people, on refugees and all the stuff to do with the Waspi women.”

Put to her that difficult decisions have to be made in Government, Ms Mackay, asked “But why is it disabled people you go after?”

The Government, she said, should be taxing the richest to cover the price of supporting the most vulnerable.