FIRST Minister John Swinney has called for another referendum on independence should the SNP win a majority at next year’s Holyrood elections.

Differing from a new Scottish government paper published today which argued another plebiscite be held should voters “return a Scottish Parliament that supports the holding of a referendum and a Scottish government committed to delivering one” — conditions that have been met in 2016 and 2021 — Mr Swinney argued:

“I’m simply looking at reality, saying at what time, at what moment did an independence referendum happen?

“It happened in 2014, after an election in which the SNP won a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament on our own.

“It relies on the principles of precedent.”

Scottish Labour constitution spokesman Neil Bibby said: “This is a desperate attempt from John Swinney to deflect from his failures and try to cling to power.

“John Swinney knows he’s got no chance of winning a majority next year, so he is instead trying to pretend he has a plan for independence, when he doesn’t.”

A UK government spokesperson commented: “This is simply not a priority for Scots.”