Holyrood rivals clash on independence, cost of living and immigration

Senior figures from the six main parties vying for seats in May’s Holyrood election have gone head-to-head in a special Scotland Tonight programme.

Chaired by STV’s political editor Colin MacKay, representatives from the SNP, Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Labour, Scottish Greens, Scottish Liberal Democrats and Reform UK took part in a wide-ranging studio debate, discussing issues from immigration to the cost of living and the constitution.

Outlining their party’s priorities for the year ahead, the SNP’s deputy leader Keith Brown said he was focused on achieving a “fresh start for Scotland”, through securing independence and rejoining the European Union.

The Scottish Conservatives’ Craig Hoy, meanwhile, said his party would be focused on the cost of living and “putting more money in people’s pockets.”

Jackie Baillie, deputy leader of the Scottish Labour party, said the election was about “what we do with the future of Scotland” and investing in services including health and education.

The Scottish Greens’ co-leader Gillian Mackay indicated her party would be focused on plans to make childcare cheaper for families, cutting public transport costs and tackling the climate crisis.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said Scotland needed “change with fairness at its heart”, saying his party had plans to improve healthcare access and address the cost of living.

Reform UK’s Lord Malcolm Offord said 2026 was a year he hoped would be a “time for new voices” and a “changing of the guard” in Scottish politics.

Constitution

Debating the prospect of a second independence referendum, SNP deputy leader Keith Brown insisted his party’s stance that a majority of Holyrood seats – 65 – should be considered a mandate for a second referendum was the right one.

“It happened before, it sets a precedent, of course it can happen,” he said.

“I think, given where we’re starting from in this campaign, and given the way that John Swinney has led the party in the past 18 months, I can see nothing but a positive future for Scotland and yes we can achieve that 65 seats and more.”

That claim was sharply rebuked by Baillie, who claimed there simply was not the public appetite in Scotland for another referendum.

She said: “After 20 years of the SNP people do not want another referendum.

“And I have to say, after 20 years you’ve been unable to deliver independence.

“People want a better health service, they want their schools not to struggle.

“This is what the polls tell us consistently, when people rank their top priorities independence comes low down on the list.”

Making the case for another referendum, the Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay – who is leading a pro-independence party – revealed that she voted against independence in 2014 but that “we’re in a different place now”.

She said: “I voted no in 2014, there are plenty of people like me who would like to cast their vote again and many young people who didn’t get to have their say the first time round.

“We were promised big things and we ended up with Brexit and Boris.

“So we’re in a different place now to where we were ten years ago, so I think it’s perfectly fair that should that pro-independence majority come round at the next election that we get that referendum.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton responded to that by claiming the answers to Scotland’s problems were not to be found in another referendum.

“For all of the questions that Scotland currently faces, whether that’s the rising cost of living, access to local healthcare, problems with our education system; the answer to none of them is another independence referendum,” he said.

Immigration

Immigration will likely feature as a hot-button issue in May’s vote and it provided some lively debate in the Scotland Tonight studio.

Lord Malcom Offord, who recently defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK, defended his party from accusations it was sowing division and “generating hate”.

On the party’s hardline stance on immigration, Lord Offord said his party was simply reflecting the strength of feeling in many of Scotland’s communities.

“Reform is reflecting a movement, particularly in our more disadvantaged communities, where there is a real need to look at pressure on services for people in those communities, where they feel they are being squeezed out.

“We are reflecting what ordinary people are saying.”

The Scottish Conservatives’ Craig Hoy, meanwhile, claimed his party had not been “outpromised” by Reform when it came to developing plans to tackle the immigration issue.

He said: “We would be naïve and I think negligent if we were to say that immigration was not an issue on the doorsteps.

“We have to have this in a reasoned debate, and we have to come up with practicable, workable solutions. Not the back of a fag packet solutions promised by Reform.”