An emotional John Swinney told SNP supporters he is “determined” to deliver Scottish independence to create a “better” country for his teenage son. Scotland’s First Minister closed his party’s annual conference in Aberdeen with a speech setting out his personal commitment to the independence cause.
Personal commitment to independence
Mr Swinney used his keynote conference address – the first since he won his own mandate as First Minister in May – to announce action to tackle both racism and misogyny. He also pledged an expansion to the £2 cap on bus fares next year – along with a commitment to bring the bus network in Scotland under public control before the next Holyrood elections in May 2031.
But much of the speech was focused on the issue of the country’s constitutional future – with the First Minister insisting: “Scotland is ready to be independent.” A new drive by the party, which starts this weekend, will be “the most sophisticated campaign that we have ever undertaken”, Mr Swinney said, adding that it would be backed by a “six-figure war chest”.
Emotional address
As he addressed the conference in Aberdeen about his reasons for making the case for independence, the SNP leader became emotional, pausing as he delivered his speech. With his son Matthew in the audience, he told SNP supporters he was “determined to deliver independence for Scotland” because he was “not just the First Minster” but was also a father.
Speaking about his youngest son, Mr Swinney said: “My greatest task is to leave Scotland a better place – the best place it can be – for him.” Addressing his party’s members, he added: “Each of us here has their own emotional connection to our country’s cause. Each of us has their own motivation. Matthew is mine. He is on the cusp of adulthood. Nothing is more important to me than building a nation on the cusp of statehood into the country I know it can be. For my son.”
Funding for communities and schools
He also announced Scottish Government cash to “fight the forces of the far-right”, pledging to set up a three-year £30 million Scotland Together Fund. This money will go to community groups and organisations to “give them the tools they need to push back the tide of racism in Scotland”.
It comes as Mr Swinney accepted the “forces of division and hatred in our society are real”, adding that “the best way to combat the rise of the racists is in the communities of Scotland on the ground”. As a result, he said: “I can announce today that we will fund the community groups. The people who are the very best of us. Who are doing the hard yards to build bridges and break down barriers.”
Hitting out at the “creeping normalisation of misogynistic behaviour in our society”, he went on to promise to tackle this problem, describing it as being “one of the key drivers behind violence against women and girls”. A new Bill to “make harassment and abuse based on misogyny a specific criminal offence” will be introduced at Holyrood before the end of June next year, the First Minister pledged.
Describing the problem as “completely deplorable”, Mr Swinney said a new £1 million Respect Fund would be established “giving every school the resources they need to tackle misogyny”. He also promised an expansion of the “groundbreaking” Don’t Be That Guy campaign – which aims to encourage men to call out sexist behaviour. This will use “positive role models” with Mr Swinney saying “high-profile sportsmen” from football, rugby, cycling, swimming, athletics, golf and tennis would be recruited for the campaign.
Bus fares and public control
He went on to announce that the £2 cap on bus fares – which is already running in the Highlands and islands, and in Glasgow and parts of the west of Scotland – would be extended to Aberdeen and the north east of Scotland in April next year. But adding that “cheaper bus travel is only one part of the story”, Mr Swinney said: “We need more buses. And we need more frequent buses. I can therefore announce today that by the end of this Parliament, through franchising and regulation, the SNP will bring the bus network back into public control.”
Reaction from Labour
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie, however, claimed the First Minister had delivered a “thin and threadbare speech – filled with the same old rhetoric”. She insisted: “Rather than indulging in the endless political point-scoring, people across Scotland want to hear answers on how to tackle the issues that matter most to them. That means setting out all of the details for public sector reform, a strategy for getting our NHS back on track, and charting a way toward restoring our education system to what it once was.”
She said it was “disappointing there was no commitment from John Swinney to work with Labour to push power out of the centre and into the hands of local communities”. But she welcomed the commitment to further extend the £2 bus fares cap, and to bring the bus network into public control, saying Labour would “work with the Scottish Government on this to ensure it is delivered in the interest of the people of Scotland”.
