ABERDEEN, Scotland — By all rights, they should be dead and buried. After 18 years in power, Scotland’s pro-independence Scottish National Party, which wants to break up the United Kingdom, is on course to win again at next year’s Scottish parliament election. Their annual conference in Aberdeen hammered home a fresh strategy of making the election all about the SNP’s ultimate push for Scottish independence. While that goal seems more distant than ever, SNP leader John Swinney hopes that, of all people, arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage may be the game-changer his cause needs. “I believe it will be revulsion at Westminster’s race to the right that will change Scotland’s status again,” Swinney told the SNP faithful as he closed the party’s conference Monday. “The race to the right at Westminster is one reason why independence is so urgent and necessary.” Though he didn’t mention the poll-topping Reform UK leader by name, the implication was clear.
Published: October 13, 2025 4:43 pm
Source: politico.eu — Read original