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<\/p>\nFirst Minister John Swinney has called on the UK government to agree to another referendum on Scottish independence if a majority of SNP MSPs are elected at the 2026 Holyrood election.<\/p>\n
Mr Swinney hopes to repeat the party’s success in 2011, which led to the 2014 independence referendum.<\/p>\n
That ballot, in which a 55-45% majority of Scots voted to remain part of the UK, was described at the time as being a “once in a generation” opportunity.<\/p>\n
Responding to opponents who say it is too soon for another ballot, the first minister said: “By 2030, there will be one million young Scots eligible to vote who were too young in 2014.<\/p>\n
“Some of them will not even have been born then. That seems like a generation to me.”<\/p>\n
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Scotland is facing a “pivotal moment”, he insisted, as he told supporters at an event in Edinburgh that Westminster governments have “failed to deliver higher living standards”.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to a future in the UK “under Labour, under Tory, or as is looking increasingly likely, Nigel Farage”, the SNP<\/a><\/strong> leader went on to declare: “I would not be doing my duty were I not to offer people a very different choice.”<\/p>\n His comments came as the Scottish government published a new paper calling on the UK government to “make a clear commitment to respect the people of Scotland’s right to decide their future”.<\/p>\n The Scottish government “believes that it is a fundamental feature of Scottish parliamentary democracy that the Scottish people can decide to hold a referendum through their votes in Scottish parliament elections”, the paper added.<\/p>\n It went on to stress the importance of the UK government and parliament “recognising and giving effect to that decision as they did in 2014\u2033.<\/p>\n Mr Swinney noted the 2014 referendum “took place following a majority SNP win in the 2011 election”.<\/p>\n He added: “That is the precedent – and that is what I am determined to repeat.”<\/p>\n Spotify<\/p>\n This content is provided by Spotify, which may be using cookies and other technologies. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spotify cookies. Enable Cookies<\/a> Read more from Sky News: Speaking to journalists after his speech, Mr Swinney said the party’s position was that another referendum required a majority because Westminster “ignored” previous pro-independence majorities in 2016 and 2021.<\/p>\n “I’m simply looking at reality, saying at what time, at what moment did an independence referendum happen?” he said.<\/p>\n “It happened in 2014, after an election in which the SNP won a majority of seats in the Scottish parliament on our own and I’m advancing the argument, which I think has got a lot of substance, because it relies on the principles of precedent.”<\/p>\n He set out his goal at a time when he said, “giving people a choice over their future has never been more important, more urgent or more necessary”.<\/p>\n He said: “At this pivotal moment in our story as a country – as our world changes rapidly around us, and as Westminster moves ever further away from the daily priorities of people in Scotland – let us come together and demand a say over our future.”<\/p>\n
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