The SNP has become “structurally irrelevant” to the people of Scotland, Peter Mandelson has said.
Speaking on the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg show, the Labour peer said the "game's up" for John Swinney's party.
He was speaking after the First Minster was interviewed on the programme, and reiterated his call for independence supporters to use the election to send the "strongest demonstration possible" to Westminster.
READ MORE: Swinney insists Holyrood result a mandate for indyref
Lord Mandelson said: “Can I just say, though, you didn’t ask us anything about John Swinney and his interview, and I think the reason for that is that it’s perfectly clear that the game’s up for the SNP.
“What the Scottish people now need is not an SNP-led government that’s going to go head-to-head the entire time with the UK government.
“It needs Scottish people in a newly elected Labour government that will get benefits for Scotland.”
The former minister added: “The SNP has become structurally irrelevant to the Scottish people.”
Last week, Mr Swinney launched his manifesto which reaffirmed the position agreed by party members at their conference last October, that if the SNP wins the majority of seats “the Scottish Government will be empowered to begin immediate negotiations with the UK Government to give democratic effect to Scotland becoming an independent country.”
He was asked by Ms Kuenssberg if he would accept that not winning a majority, meant the Scottish electorate did not want to pursue independence right now.
"The Scottish Parliament was elected in 2021 with a majority of members for a five year term committed to the delivery of a referendum on independence and to delivering Scottish independence, if that was supported in the referendum.
"I think that democratic mandate from the people of Scotland, clearly given, has got to be delivered.
"And I think this election is an opportunity for us to advance those arguments.
"But it's crystal clear that people in Scotland have expressed a preference to determine their own constitutional future. And I think Westminster should should remove the obstacles that are stopping Scotland from having that choice."
Asked again if he would accept that a drop in support for the SNP meant a drop in support for independence, the First Minister said: "Well, the democratic logic is that the people of Scotland have had their democratic will thwarted since 2021.
"And I invite people in Scotland in this election on a week on Thursday, to make sure that they exercise their view and their voice to make sure we have that strongest demonstration possible of the support that is necessary to deliver Scottish independence and to make sure that Westminster stops blocking the democratic aspirations of the people of Scotland.
READ MORE: 'Stamp Fairy' row: Swinney denies misuse of Parliamentary funds
Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: “The Scottish public will be dismayed to hear John Swinney again double down on the SNP’s independence obsession.
“Breaking up the UK is his top priority and he insisted he will use every seat the SNP wins to pursue it. “But there is a huge opportunity for voters to end the SNP’s demands for independence for good – by voting Scottish Conservative in key seats up and down the country.
“If elected, Scottish Conservative MPs will focus on the issues that matter to ordinary Scots – like fixing our ailing public services and growing the economy – issues which have been shamefully ignored by the SNP.”
During an interview on BBC Scotland's Sunday show, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: "There is no consistent majority for independence. There is not a majority for the status quo either. But there is an overwhelming majority for change."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel