John Swinney sets date for second Scottish independence referendum

Dan McDonald
Mon, 13 Apr 2026 02:22:33 +0000

Scottish First Minister John Swinney has set out a timeline for a potential second independence referendum.

It would be "perfectly conceivable" that a vote on major constitutional overhaul could be held within two years, the SNP leader insisted during a BBC debate.

Mr Swinney told the audience that Scottish voters were "entitled" to choose the direction of their country's constitutional future.

He claimed that delivering an SNP majority - which the party achieved prior to the 2014 vote - would unblock a "constitutional logjam" the country now finds itself in.

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The SNP boss pleaded with voters to give an "emphatic mandate of an SNP majority so the future of our country can be taken into our own hands".

He insisted it was "perfectly conceivable to have a second referendum by 2028".

Scottish Greens leader Ross Greer backed the First Minister, insisting that Scotland's future must be "in Scotland's hands".

The Greens had entered into a power sharing agreement with the SNP in 2021 - but this was later axed by then-First Minister Humza Yousaf in 2024.

During the debate, Labour leader Anas Sarwar insisted May's elections were "not about independence".

Meanwhile, Conservative leader Russell Findlay said that breaking away from the UK would be an "unmitigated disaster".

Malcolm Offord, Reform UK's Scottish leader, branded a second independence referendum "divisive" - but refused to rule out another vote if support for the move hit 60 per cent.

Any referendum must be approved by Westminster before it could take place in the future.

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Last year, Sir Keir Starmer said he could not imagine a second vote taking place during his stint in Downing Street.

The Prime Minister said at the time that "nobody's raising that with me as their first priority" - remarks which were later blasted as "arrogant" by the SNP.

When asked about a second referendum on Sunday, Health Minister Wes Streeting told LBC: "We're not having one."

"This country has had enough of chaos," he added.

It comes as polling guru Sir John Curtice warned that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland could all have nationalist governments by May 8 if the opinion polls are correct.

YouGov’s first MRP poll of the Holyrood elections shows the SNP could take 67 of 129 seats - a tiny majority, but a majority.

Sir John said the polls also pointed towards a Plaid Cymru victory in Wales - which, when coupled with Sinn Fein holding power in Stormont, would mean “nationalist first ministers in all three devolved jurisdictions”.

Discussing the prospects of a second referendum, the pollster said: “The SNP would say precedent suggests they have a mandate.

“We can probably anticipate the UK Government will say no.

"Swinney says he’s got something up his sleeve, but we don’t know what it is."