Swinney to call independence fresh start and says Starmer could be next Thatcher

John Swinney will say that independence could be Scotland’s fresh start as he warns Sir Keir Starmer could be a new version of Margaret Thatcher.

The First Minister will make the case for leaving the UK at an SNP campaign event on Monday morning.

He will say that independence could improve living standards while sharing the nation’s wealth more fairly.

“Westminster control of Scotland’s resources does not work for us. We see that in their complete failure to support key industries in Scotland,” he is expected to say.

“That is why, when I met the Prime Minister on Friday, I made clear the existential nature of the current threat.

“I left him in no doubt that, unless he changes course, what we face is a second wave of 80s-style deindustrialisation, 80s-style economic devastation.

John Swinney will describe independence as a ‘fresh start’ for Scotland. PA Media

“If Keir Starmer does not change course, he will enter our national story as a second Thatcher, a second destroyer of industry, a second destroyer of communities, and Scotland will not forget.

“That is why we speak of independence as the fresh start Scotland needs.”

Mr Swinney will claim that Westminster is “fundamentally broken and beyond repair”.

He will add: “A fresh start because with Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands, our nation, our fellow citizens, can finally see the benefit of our vast wealth.

“Let us not let Westminster take the decisions and take the wealth.

“We will be better off with independence, better off with Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands.

“That is the fresh start that only independence offers. It is the fresh start our nation can choose in May next year, only by voting SNP.”

Scottish Tory MSP Craig Hoy said: “John Swinney talks about presenting a clear case for independence, something that he has singularly failed to do over nearly two decades in government.

“The SNP have spent millions and wasted countless months in civil servants’ time on their independence obsession.

“But the real cost of this has been a bruising 18 years for Scotland’s public services, with the NHS on its knees, roads in total disrepair and school standards plummeting.

“Scotland deserves better than this failing SNP Government.

John Swinney said Sir Keir Starmer could be a ‘second Thatcher’. PA Media

“If John Swinney is really serious about making Scotland’s wealth work for Scots, he would cut their tax and end the SNP’s waste and incompetence.”

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “Anyone who has walked down a high street hollowed out on the SNP’s watch, sat in an A&E waiting room for hours on end, or watched their council struggle to fix roads and collect bins wishes that John Swinney would wheesht with the blame game and get on with the day job.

“Instead of fixing the damage in our public services, the SNP is once again talking up independence as a distraction from its own failures.

“From the crisis in our NHS to the violence in our schools and the pressure on councils, the SNP has left every institution in Scotland weaker after nearly two decades in power and they are hoping Scotland won’t notice.

“This is not as good as it gets, in just five months we have the chance to put a stop to SNP decline and vote for a fresh start with Scottish Labour.”