Majority would trigger independence talks – SNP manifesto – BBC News

John Swinney has said the Scottish government will be “empowered” to begin negotiations for a second independence referendum if the SNP wins a majority of Scottish seats at the general election.

Launching the SNP’s manifesto on Wednesday, the party leader said the election gave voters a chance to “intensify the pressure” to secure Scottish independence.

Mr Swinney also introduced plans for a legal guarantee to keep the NHS in public hands and an extra £1.6bn for the NHS each year to Scotland.

The manifesto also called for the two-child benefit cap and the House of Lords to be scrapped.

Speaking at the manifesto launch in Edinburgh, Mr Swinney – who is also Scotland’s first minister, said: “If the SNP wins a majority of seats in this election in Scotland, the Scottish government will embark on negotiations with the UK government to run the democratic wishes of people in Scotland into a reality.

“The best way to secure independence is through a democratic referendum, the obstacle to that is the intransigence of the United Kingdom government.

“So what this election gives people the chance to do is to intensify the pressure to secure Scottish independence and to bring that about by voting SNP in order for us to achieve a majority of Westminster seats at this election.”

An independent Scotland would re-join the EU, Mr Swinney said, adding that independence would help build a “fair and prosperous economy”, but “success is not guaranteed”.

The party manifesto sets out four demands to protect the NHS in Scotland – which is devolved, with the Scottish government having responsibility for it rather than Westminster.

The SNP said it would urge the UK government to invest at least another £6bn in the NHS to match Scotland’s most recent pay deals for healthcare staff.

The manifesto said that the extra investment would deliver about £600m for the Scottish government through the Barnett formula, which he said would then be spent on NHS staff numbers, pay and conditions.

The SNP also wants the UK government to boost NHS spending by a minimum of £10bn extra each year to “address rampant inflationary pressures and improve performance”.

Mr Swinney said taken together, these two policies would achieve a total additional investment of £1.6bn for the health service in Scotland.

He said SNP MPs would introduce a bill in Westminster aimed at creating a legal guarantee to keep the NHS operating as a “publicly-owned, publicly-operated” service.

“The SNP message on the health service is clear, it is simple and it will never change. The NHS is not for sale,” he said.

NHS Scotland spent £116m on external providers (0.7% of what it calls the frontline health budget) in 2022/23, compared to a bill of £11.5bn for the UK Department of Health (6.5%), according to the Scottish government.

But currently Scotland has a much higher proportion of patients facing very long waits for planned NHS treatment than England – with around 8,000 waits over two years for hospital procedures or specialist appointments.

Healthcare is a devolved issue in Scotland, meaning the Scottish government runs its own NHS.

However, the overall budget is affected by spending by the UK government and the SNP has previously blamed this for limitations in the Scottish NHS.

The party also wants a reversal on a Conservative policy which stops care workers from overseas bringing their families with them to work in the UK.