The SNP conference has kicked off in Aberdeen, with the focus on independence strategy and oil and gas policy
As delegates gathered at the P&J Live area for the SNP’s conference, Deputy First Minister Jenny GIlruth was keen to make the most of recent polling.
The SNP she says is set to hold the “balance of power” after the next Westminster election.
The party commissioned a poll ahead of its annual conference in Aberdeen showing 52 per cent support for Scottish independence, as well as 34 per cent backing for the party at a Westminster election – 14 points ahead of Labour.
Ms Gilruth said: “We would welcome an early election.
“The polling, of course, suggests that the SNP would hold the balance of power in a hung parliament and really strong support for the SNP across the country allowing us to regain a number of seats.”
Polls apart
Less helpfully for the SNP however was a poll which shows half of Scots think the party is incompetent – with a narrow majority believing John Swinney’s party to be “out of touch” and “untrustworthy”.
The survey by YouGov also showed the First Minister’s personal approval rating has fallen to -19 – with 53 per cent of people unfavourable towards him while only 34 per cent have a favourable opinion of the SNP leader. The only party leader – in either Scotland or the UK – to have a positive approval rating is the Prime Minister, with Andy Burnham given a score of +9, with 47 per cent of those questioned favourable towards him, while 38 per cent view him unfavourably. Mr Swinney, however, was by far the best known of the political leaders in Scotland – with only 13 per cent saying they did not know enough about him to say if their view was favourable or not.
Broken Britain
Scotland is “not hanging around” for Andy Burnham to tackle the UK’s cost-of-living crisis, SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan told conference.
While the Labour leader has put forward a decade-long plan for the nation, Mr Doogan insisted that Scotland could have a “better, brighter, burgeoning future” by quitting the UK.
Mr Doogan used his speech to attack the Prime Minister, whom he said was the “Labour Party’s latest messiah”. His comments came ahead of visit to Scotland by Mr Burnham on Friday, but the SNP MP blasted him for describing Manchester as being the “North” of the UK.
“It’s a safe bet that if a prime minister doesn’t have a clue about geography, he’s never going to have a clue about Scotland,” Mr Doogan said.
Flynn’s big moment
The coming period will be the “greatest challenge” the independence movement has ever faced, Stephen Flynn said. Mr Flynn was the first speaker at the party’s conference , where he stressed that “constitutional change is coming”.
He said: “Look at where we stand now – three nations of the UK whose leaders are committed to constitutional change, a British Prime Minister telling us we can have our independence when the people of Scotland want it.
“All of us should feel pride in how far our movement has come.”
He added: “We are winning the argument, we can see that by reading the newspapers or listening to the panic of unionist politicians.”
But Mr Flynn, the party’s former leader in Westminster, said there is “no shortcut” to achieve independence.
“One by one, we must persuade our families, our friends, our neighbours, of our cause – one by one, step by step.”
Building blocks
Meanwhile, new organisations set up as part of planned public sector reforms could be the “building blocks of an independent state”, the Scottish Government minister in charge of such changes said.
Public Service Reform Secretary Ivan McKee said while changes to Scotland’s local authorities and health services were necessary, they could also provide the institutional structures if Scotland was to become independent.
Speaking at a fringe event , Mr McKee said the Government was “going into the public service reform agenda with a great deal of ambition and a great deal of pace”.
He said this was “because it is needing done, but also because it is the building blocks of an independent state”.
With Scotland facing a looming budget spending gap of almost £5 billion by the end of the decade, Mr McKee accepted that the “fiscal challenges” were part of the rationale for the reforms.
Balaclava ban
The issue has come to the fore in recent months as a result of anti-immigrant protests across the country, as well as the rise of balaclava-wearing young people on motorised bikes and scooters.
Speaking at the Scottish Police Federation event, Mr Gray said the Government was looking to take action, taking inspiration from an initiative in Nottingham.
Face coverings – except those worn for “legitimate reasons” such as religion – have been banned in the centre of the city.
“It is becoming a newer phenomenon, a growing and very challenging phenomenon, where we are seeing balaclavas being used in order to mask criminality, anti-social behaviour and significant disruption and disorder.
“It is one that we’re looking at – there is clearly civil liberties implications around this and it is not as easy or straightforward as just banning them or banning them in certain areas.
“We are looking, though, at what’s being done in Nottingham, where you’ve got, essentially, exclusion zones.