John Swinney has insisted his Scottish independence strategy comes with “crystal clarity” despite refusing to disclose his “secret” tactics.
The SNP leader said the UK Government must follow “precedent” and grant a second independence vote if his party secures a majority of seats at May’s Scottish Parliament election.
However, he refused to tell journalists his back-up plan if the UK Government refuses to grant a referendum.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly ruled out granting the vote, regardless of the election results.
Mr Swinney said there were a “variety of tactics” that could be deployed to overcome the UK Government’s resistance to independence.
He hinted at this approach at the party's conference in October, stating "nobody knows what tactics I will deploy", while former first minister Nicola Sturgeon labelled it a "secret plan".
But when repeatedly probed by broadcast and print journalists on Monday, the First Minister said he would not set out his tactics in advance of the SNP’s official campaign launch.
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During a speech at the Oran Mor in Glasgow, Mr Swinney said there was a “simple democratic” point, adding: “The United Kingdom has always accepted, and which it accepted in 2011 and 2014, which is that the people of Scotland have the right to decide their own constitutional future.
“That is a fundamental, democratic principle that has to lie at the heart of Scotland today.”
“None of my tactics should be necessary because the UK Government should just accept the democratic wishes of the people of Scotland,” he added.
The SNP leader also refused to rule out taking independence off the table for five years if the party failed to secure a majority.
Former leader Alex Salmond secured a referendum following an SNP majority in 2011, with then prime minister David Cameron granting the vote.
However, in September 2014, the No campaign won with 55% voting no, while 45% voted Yes.
Since then, successive leaders Ms Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf have failed to secure another plebiscite.
Ms Sturgeon repeatedly asked UK Tory prime ministers for another referendum to no avail before tabling a ‘de facto’ referendum approach that would have claimed a majority of votes for pro-independence parties in a general election as justification for independence.
Mr Yousaf’s strategy initially adopted a similar approach before altering the strategy to represent pro-independence seats won as a mandate.
But in Glasgow, Mr Swinney said: "What I’m saying is that we can all look at what has happened in the last two parliamentary terms. There has been a majority for independence in the Scottish Parliament and it has not resulted in a referendum.
“I am simply saying to people in Scotland: if we want to make this happen, let’s look at where the precedent lies. The precedent lies in 2011 where the SNP got a majority.”
He said he was being “crystal clear” about how the SNP planned to secure independence.
“I’m offering crystal clarity”, he said.
