John Swinney believes SNP majority still “entirely practical and possible”
The First Minister answers your Scottish election questions ahead of next week’s vote.
SNP leader John Swinney is accusing his opponents of fighting uninspiring campaigns which he believes is reflected in the polls.
“I have lost count of the number of leaflets that have come through my door from my opponents saying ‘do this to stop the SNP, do that to stop the SNP’." he says. "So I think it’s a wee bit of a reflection on the negativity of the campaigns all my rivals have pursued.”
But challenged on his own message of wanting to “lock out Reform”, John Swinney insists that’s something completely different:
“There is a set of values there that I find repugnant, so I have disagreements with my political rivals, but I am in a completely different space to Reform. I think their message undermines some of the fundamental values that I think people in Scotland generally hold dear in our country.”
WATCH: You ask the questions
Can the SNP get a majority?
The SNP’s main push in this election campaign is about winning an overall majority in a bid to secure another independence referendum.
Jerry from Glasgow was keen to know if it could be achieved in the next few years, something John Swinney is confident will happen:
“I think people can see clearly that, particularly after the election of the Labour government in 2024 which has been a complete disappointment to people in Scotland, that it doesn’t matter if it is a Labour government or a Conservative government, Westminster doesn’t work in Scotland.”
The SNP leader has set a date of 2028 for another referendum and claims it’s entirely possible:
“I am inviting people to give me a majority in this election so that I can repeat the precedent of 2011 when the SNP got a majority, got a referendum. I think that is completely impossible for the UK to refute.”
Pushed on what happens if there is no SNP majority at this election and whether that means independence is off the table for another 5 years, Mr Swinney replied: “my proposition to the people of Scotland is, if they want independence, they should prioritise it in this election and vote for the SNP.”
Rural health care concerns
John Swinney was asked about rural health care with Eilidh in Elgin talking about her need to regularly travel to Aberdeen because of her daughter’s illness:
“I sympathise and empathise with Eilidh about the worry and the agony that she will have about her daughter and making sure her daughter is well supported. I would like to see public services delivered as close to people as possible. That’s my starting point, as much as possible should be delivered to Eilidh and her daughter in the community in Elgin and that is going to be more and more the shape of the health services I want to see delivered in the years to come.”
Lewis from Dundee was another to raise concerns about levels of youth violence, something the SNP Government has been criticised for and accused of having a soft touch approach to:
“There are significant deterrents in place, including imprisonment. That exists, that is part of the tool kit available, that has to be deployed. Those measures are there for a purpose, but we have to take steps to try to avoid young people getting into those situations, but if they get into those situations then unfortunately, the criminal justice system will have to take over.”
VOTE: Who gets your support on May 7th?
Knife crime fears
Pressed on what more can be done about knife crime among young Scots, the SNP leader pointed towards education programmes, but says he keeps them under review:
“I will never be satisfied until we don’t have knife crime amongst young people because there is no rational need for anyone to carry a knife in our society, but the fact that some young people do is something I have got to be constantly addressing to make sure we tackle this issue.”
The First Minister is a festival-goer
Our political leaders have also been challenged to come up with their dream festival line up, but John Swinney says he already attends his ideal event:
“People might think ‘oh my God, John Swinney goes to a music festival’, well it is true, I got to a music festival every single year and that is the Tiree Music Festival.
“It’s one of the island music festivals which is a celebration of the outstanding traditional music of Scotland in a very modern setting so tremendous bands like Skipinnish, Skerryvore, Manran and the Trail West.”