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A senior Scottish Government minister has been told to get on with her day job after she warned that independence will "never, ever be off the table" for the SNP. Mairi McAllan sounded the warning on the day that John Swinney will close the SNP conference with a keynote speech.
The summit has mainly been about breaking up the UK, with the First Minister getting his Scexit policy passed pretty overwhelmingly in the end. He also claimed that he has a secret plot that will get around any UK Government block on a second referendum.
Critics have pointed out that the SNP are talking about independence so much to distract from its poor record in government. The next election will be fought on breaking up the UK, with Mr Swinney aiming for a majority of MSPs so he can use that as a mandate.
Housing Secretary Ms McAllan was grilled about these plans on BBC Good Morning Scotland where she rejected suggestions that if Mr Swinney doesn't meet his target, then independence will be off the radar for at least five years. Any nationalist government will always seek to break up the UK she insisted.
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She was asked whether it was too risky to try for independence when the economy is stagnating. She said: "We don't believe it to be a punt. We have just, in the last couple of weeks, published a very detailed, quite dispassionate, economic prospectus for independence.
"One of the main things that we've done in that work is look at countries like Denmark, look at countries like Ireland, very similar to Scotland in many ways and yet they enjoy higher standards of living, they are wealthier, they are happier, they are healthier. So long as we are blowing in the wind of Westminster chaos, we will never realise that.
"We're not planning to not get (a majority). And the work now starts to make sure that we do. Of course, we want to win the election as well to be returned to government for Scotland because an SNP government fights for Scotland every day and the same cannot be said of our opponents.
"We will fight for that majority and I'm not going to give in on that prospect until the votes are being counted next May." She backed Mr Swinney to stay on as First Minister even if he fails to achieve his goal. His Deputy Leader Keith Brown suggested he would quit if this happens.
Ms McAllan believes the First Minister will "lead us to independence". She added that the pursuit of independence will "never, ever be off the table" for the SNP, regardless of how next year's election goes.
Scottish Conservative shadow housing secretary Meghan Gallacher MSP said: "Mairi McAllan has made it crystal clear that independence will always trump everything else for the SNP. They are hellbent on making the election next year all about their obsession with breaking up the United Kingdom and pushing for another divisive referendum. Instead that vote should be a referendum on the SNP's appalling record in government over the last 18 years.
"While the SNP have spent their conference comforting themselves by talking all the time about their favourite topic, we have heard nothing from SNP ministers like Mairi McAllan like how she will tackle the housing emergency in her own brief, or how we grow Scotland's economy.
"Scotland cannot afford another five years of the SNP demanding another referendum and being distracted all over again which is why they must be removed from office next year to guarantee the focus will be on the issues Scots really care about."
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