Scotland Intends to Initiate a New Independence Referendum on the Very First Day of Parliament

First minister and SNP leader John Swinney said that if a government led by the party is formed, he will put to a parliamentary vote a mechanism intended to give Scotland the right to hold a new referendum. “Parliament will have the opportunity to express the democratic will of the people of Scotland,” he said.

Speaking in Glasgow, Swinney presented a programme for the first 100 days, stressing that his government intended to “get straight to work”. The draft referendum bill envisages a yes-or-no question, as in the 2014 vote. There are also plans to convene a constitutional convention to prepare the foundations of a future constitution.

Swinney had previously said that an SNP majority in the May 7 election would amount to a mandate for a new referendum—following the precedent of 2011, when the party won 69 of 129 seats, leading to the 2014 vote. “I want people to vote SNP so that we have a majority and can deliver this agenda,” he stressed.

Asked whether the party would withdraw the bill if it failed to secure a majority, Swinney avoided giving a direct answer. According to one senior SNP strategist, however, the vote on the document will take place in any case, and the government will advance the independence agenda “as far as possible”.

According to polls, the SNP is likely to remain in power but fall short of the 65 seats needed for a parliamentary majority. With support from the Scottish Greens, however, a pro-independence majority could still be formed in parliament.

Even if the SNP wins a majority, the UK government has already said it does not intend to consent to a new referendum so soon after the 2014 vote, in which 55% of voters opposed independence and 45% backed it.

Swinney called that position unacceptable: “It is completely unacceptable for the UK government to ignore the democratic will of the people of Scotland.”

The leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Russell Findlay, said in turn: “Instead of focusing on the cost-of-living crisis, jobs, education, and the health service, Swinney intends to drag Holyrood back into constitutional chaos.”