SNP ‘ready to win big’ and put Scotland on path to independence – Swinney

The SNP is “ready to win big” in the Holyrood election, John Swinney has declared, as he insisted a majority for his party will deliver the “fresh start” of independence.

The Scottish First Minister has set his targets firmly on winning an overall majority in the May 7 election, believing such a result will lead to a second referendum on the future of the UK.

Speaking at the start of a “crucial election campaign for our country”, he said the SNP will run its “biggest and best campaign” over the next six weeks.

He said he will lead “our campaign from the front”, and told supporters at the campaign launch in Glasgow that the SNP is “ready not just to fight this election, not just to win this election, but to win big”.

He said an SNP majority at Holyrood will not only achieve the goal of another referendum, but will also lock Nigel Farage’s Reform UK out of power in Scotland.

Polls have suggested Reform – led in Scotland by Malcolm Offord – could come second in the vote.

Mr Swinney warned: “Depending on how the numbers stack up after the election, without an SNP majority there is always the potential for a grubby, backroom deal between Labour and Reform.”

But he said it is the prospect of using the election to force a referendum that could give Scotland the “greatest prize”.

An overall SNP majority – as happened in 2011 under Alex Salmond – will “send a message that the Westminster establishment cannot sweep under the carpet”, Mr Swinney said.

Successive prime ministers have rejected repeated calls for another independence referendum, but the First Minister believes 2011 set a precedent for forcing another vote on the country’s constitutional future.

He also used his speech to hit out at Labour, and Sir Keir Starmer’s Government at Westminster.

He said Scotland already has “one disastrous Labour Government – and we do not need another one”.

The Labour UK Government has failed to help people with rising energy bills, the First Minister claimed, accusing Westminster of having “looked away”.

Mr Swinney added: “They have utterly failed in their duty to protect the people of this country.

“They have taken Scotland’s energy wealth and given us nothing back in return when we needed it.”

He said this “makes the case for real fundamental change”.

With conflict raging in the Gulf, he also warned Sir Keir against leading the UK into war against Iran alongside the US and Israel.

“The UK Government must not find itself being pulled into an offensive war,” he warned.

He said it is “a war that we in Scotland do not want, cannot be justified, and from which there is no exit strategy”.

He added: “We have seen this before with Labour governments – we must not see it again from another Labour Government.”

He finished by making a personal plea to Scots to re-elect him as First Minister, saying: “These are serious times, and they demand serious leadership.

“I have spent my entire adult life in the service of this country. I know how to get things done.

“If I am re-elected as your First Minister, I will give everything I have to make this country a better place for everyone who lives here.

“I will use every bit of my experience to deliver on the promises I make.

“I will give every fibre of my being to always standing up for Scotland.”