SNP: It's the right time for independence

Swinney claims that Westminster policy is driving campaign

- By David Walker Scottish Politics Reporter

JOHN Swinney vowed that he was going to be more “assertive” in trying to break up the UK as he outlined two new policies in his SNP conference speech.

The First Minister closed the Aberdeen summit yesterday by insisting that what he described as Britain’s “lurch to the right” meant it was time for independence.

Healthcare, Scexit and immigration were his three main topics, while he told delegates he would be seeking a “mandate” for independence at the next Holyrood election.

But critics slated him for “rehashing” old policies and accused him of running a “knackered” government. His big announcement about seven-day walk-in GP services mirrors a UK Government policy first introduced in England 25 years ago.

He blasted Westminster for never being “more out of touch with people’s everyday concerns” as he claimed that Scotland is “only ever an afterthought” to London.

Promises

He branded the SNP “Scotland’s true radicals” despite being the party of government for more than 18 years.

Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said: “John Swinney must believe that scunnered Scots button up the back if he expects them to trust his latest half-baked plan on fixing Scotland’s GP and the wider NHS crisis.

As he delivered his recycled rhetoric, he appears to have forgotten that he’s been at the heart of this useless SNP government which has left a trail of broken promises for almost two decades.

“His latest rallying cry to break up the country will excite diehard nationalists but everyone else is urging him to ‘move on, John’.