"After a passionate and at times highly technical debate, the conference rejected a rebel amendment put by more than 40 local branches that set out a more fundamentalist strategy of treating next year's election as a de facto referendum, meaning that if the SNP and other pro-independence parties win a majority of the popular vote in 2026, it should be treated as a mandate to open independence negotiations directly."
"Echoing the confidence of SNP strategists reported in the Guardian yesterday, Swinney told the packed conference hall that we are within touching distance of the 65 seats that will make the world sit up and take notice and urged the party to back taking a clear, unambiguous message to the public. Depute leader Keith Brown, who seconded the motion, told delegates: The only way we can achieve independence is to ask a clear question and get a clear answer."
SNP members overwhelmingly backed John Swinney's independence strategy, endorsing a motion to fight next May's Holyrood elections on a clear platform of national independence and to secure 65 or more seats as the only uncontested route to a new referendum. The conference rejected an amendment from over 40 local branches proposing that a pro-independence popular vote majority in 2026 should act as a de facto mandate to open independence negotiations. The de facto approach was previously promoted by Nicola Sturgeon, who later called it a mistake in her memoir. Delegates were urged to present a clear, unambiguous message amid concerns about past electoral muddle.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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