The SNP leader and First Minister John Swinney has said his party must secure a majority of seats at the Scottish parliament election to secure another referendum.
Writing in his column for the Daily Record today, the First Minister called for a “legal referendum recognised by all” on Scottish independence if the [[SNP]] secures a majority at the Holyrood elections.
However, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has recently said he "cannot imagine" another independence referendum whilst he is in office.
Speaking to BBC Good Morning Scotland this morning, Mr Swinney said: "It's fundamentally a democratic issue here.
"That people in Scotland in a voluntary union must be able to choose their own democratic future and that was accepted when the SNP won a majority in parliament on our own in 2021.
"Having established that precedent, we must be in a position to be able to give the people of Scotland a choice about their constitutional future.
"By the time we get to 2030, there's going to be a million people who were not eligible to vote in the last referendum in 2014."
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However, Mr Swinney admitted his party has had a "tough time" but he added that his leadership has led to the party's stabilisation.
It comes after the [[SNP]]'s former deputy leader Mhairi Black told The Herald last week she was no longer a member of the party.
Addressing issues of unity, Mr Swinney said: "The SNP's has had a tough time but I've brought the party together.
"If anyone said a year ago that the SNP would be leading on the opinion polls in Scotland, would be building on its electoral track record, would be delivering in government and would be focused on delivering an independence mandate in the 2026, I think people would be kind of surprised to be honest but that's where we are today."
Addressing independence supporters, Mr Swinney said if we want to create a "fair country" where "we don't have the books being balanced on the back of the poor" and the "energy wealth" is used, we must "take control of our own affairs".
The SNP leader has called for the May 2026 Holyrood elections to be “a springboard for Scotland taking charge of our own destiny”.
Commenting on [[John Swinney]]’s claim that an [[SNP]] majority is needed at [[Holyrood]] for a second independence referendum, Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said: “This [[SNP]] government has lost its way and ran out of ideas - while one in six Scots suffer on an NHS waiting list.
“Despite that, John Swinney can’t end his own obsession with division, and today has confirmed he’ll put Scots second to appease his own party.
“From the crisis in our NHS to the violence in our schools, the SNP has left every institution in Scotland weaker.
“This is not as good as it gets, and in 2026 Scotland will have a chance to put a stop to SNP decline and vote for a fresh start with Scottish Labour.
“Scottish Labour will be working tirelessly to earn voters’ trust and demonstrate that we can deliver the new direction Scotland so desperately needs.”
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: “John Swinney is like a broken record. In a bid to silence internal critics of his weak leadership, he has thrown diehard nationalists some more red meat on the one issue they all agree on: independence.
“Ordinary Scots are sick and tired of the SNP’s obsession with breaking up the UK.
“The public want John Swinney to focus on fixing the damage his government has done in decimating essential services such as schools and the NHS at the same time as making Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK.”
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