SNP convention to discuss new independence strategy

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By Stuart Nicholson, BBC Scotland News 23 June 2023

Updated 1 hour ago

Image source, Getty Images

photo caption,

Youssef will address the conference on Saturday morning

The SNP holds the Independence Convention as it attempts to chart a new course towards Scotland leaving the UK.

The one-day event at Caird Hall in Dundee was described as an opportunity “to discuss our strategy for securing Scotland’s independence”.

And Hamza Yusuf, leader of the Scottish National Party, has already admitted that “there is no rabbit pulling out of the hat”.

The party will not make a final decision on its strategy until the main fall congress in October.

Sir Joseph, who is also Scotland’s first minister, will deliver a speech shortly after the opening of the conference that will “set out his view of the way forward for the people of Scotland to express a clear view of how we can advance the cause of independence”.

He will say leaving the UK means “having and using the power to build a better country” and being able to “make transformative change by taking power into our own hands”.

He is also expected to argue that the party needs to build more popular support for independence in order to force the UK government to allow a second referendum.

Several other senior SNP politicians will also be speaking at the agreement on both the path to independence and general election strategy, with the party saying there will be opportunities for people to “make contributions from the floor” and take part in “interactive workshops for activists”.

There will be a tribute to former SNP member Winnie Ewing, an icon of the independence movement who passed away earlier this week at the age of 93.

The event will also be used to kick off a summer program of independence campaigns, which the party said will include publishing, canvassing and regional rallies.

There has been criticism from some within the SNP and the wider Yes movement of the decision to allow only party members to attend the conference, which is being held at the same time as the All Under One Banner Independence March in Stirling.

Former SNP leader Alex Salmond, who now heads ALBA’s party, was among those calling for the creation of a cross-party conference that would include the SNP, ALBA and other pro-independence parties and organisations.

He also wants an agreement that would see one pro-independence candidate in each constituency in the general election – a proposal that seems unlikely to win favor with the SNP.

Image source, Getty Images

photo caption,

The convention will be held at the same time as the independence march in Stirling.

Despite the widespread assumption that Brexit and Boris Johnson would be gifts to the independence movement, Nicola Sturgeon – whom Mr. Yusuf recently described as Europe’s most admired politician – has not been able to consistently push support for the UK to leave at more than 50%.

The UK government has repeatedly refused her permission to hold a referendum despite the SNP’s electoral successes during the eight years that Dame Sturgeon was First Minister and party leader.

The Yes movement was dealt another blow last November when the High Court ruled that the Scottish government did not have the powers to hold a vote without such permission.

Sturgeon’s response to the court’s ruling was to suggest that next year’s general election be treated as a “de facto referendum”.

If the SNP wins more than 50% of the vote in the election, it will be considered an endorsement of independence, and the party will then try to open negotiations with the UK government.

The UK government was not legally bound to do so, however, and the plan was deeply unpopular among many SNP MPs, with Stuart MacDonald – previously seen as one of Sturgeon’s staunchest allies – publicly criticizing it.

Yusuf distanced himself from the actual referendum plan during the contest to succeed Ms Sturgeon as SNP leader and first minister earlier this year.

And opinion polls indicate that since support for the party has fallen in recent months, any attempt to revive the party would be seen as a big gamble.

The SNP leadership has also consistently ruled out holding a referendum which was not seen as legally binding.

photo caption,

Mr. Youssef had previously said that he wanted to be the “first activist” as well as the first minister

Yusuf told Sky News earlier this week that there was “no rabbit pulled out of a hat, no trick I could cook” to secure the independence referendum.

He added: “The only way to break Westminster’s obstinacy is through people’s power, and to make sure we muster the same amount of public support to break this jam.

“This is what I will say at the party conference, and more than that, this Saturday.”

Pollster Professor Sir John Curtis said support for independence has averaged 48% in recent polls – higher than support for the SNP itself.

A Panelbase poll in the Sunday Times last weekend put the SNP at 34% for the next general election and suggested the party could be on course to win fewer seats than Scottish Labor, a prospect that seemed almost unexpected a year ago.

The past few months have seen Ms Sturgeon and her husband, Peter Morell, arrested and their home searched as part of an ongoing police investigation into the SNP’s financing and financing.

They were later released without charge while further investigations took place.

There has also been controversy over the Scottish government’s handling of issues ranging from ferries and NHS waiting lists to gender reform and the deposit return system.

Donald Cameron of the Scottish Conservative Party said the conference showed the SNP had “always preferred to push its own independence obsession rather than focus on the real priorities of Scotland”.

He added, “Hamza Yusuf and other senior figures in the SNP are throwing red meat at grassroots nationalists to get away from their own crushing failures and the chaos engulfing the party.”

Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar said the country was in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and an NHS crisis that had left people struggling to get health treatment.

He said: “At the same time we have a ruling party in Scotland that wants to talk to itself about itself and divert attention from the chaos, carnage and division that surrounds their political party.”

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