Labour has a golden opportunity. Delivering a functioning UK where things are actually getting better is not only the best way to win Holyrood in 2026 but the best argument against independence.
Folk love a Scottish accent. There have been all those surveys showing it. Most attractive and trusted. Most appealing in the UK. There was one back in 2008 that found Scottish was indeed the most reassuring accent.
Four years ago, support for independence surged as Brexit and Boris Johnson made Scottish voters feel alienated from UK politics. It’s settled back to the 45 per cent mark since then, but politics could be about to deliver a perfect storm of circumstances that could boost the cause. At its centre is Nigel Farage.
John Swinney said a vote for the SNP was a vote for independence and that an independent Scotland would have a richly funded and staffed NHS with no public spending cuts (contrary to every credible analysis of Scotland’s post-independence finances). This while he attacked Labour over and over for failing to come clean about impending cuts.
Something significant has been happening to the SNP. It appears that a slow process of metamorphosis is taking place. John Swinney seems to be shifting position on key policies. It makes you wonder: do we really know what the SNP stands for any more?
Rural communities have had enough and politicians have noticed. With many hotly contested seats in countryside areas, rural communities – for once – are becoming a major focus of all the parties’ efforts. This election, believe it or not, is on one level a fight for the heart of rural Scotland.
Pity the poor SNP support. It’s been a bad couple of seasons generally but recent poor performance could mean humiliating relegation awaits.
The independence question and the blame game that goes with it is never absent from Scottish political life.
What Mr Swinney did not do is define trans women and biological women in the same way, as being the same. His words make a subtle distinction between the two, and this is perhaps significant.
SNP ministers’ willingness to tax the wealthy at a higher rate has prompted objections from business leaders, but Mr Swinney’s government should hold steady. Working more constructively with business cannot mean giving it a veto on desperately needed measures to tackle poverty, educational and health inequalities.
