JOHN Swinney has suggested that Reform’s leader in Scotland Malcolm Offord is afraid of the prospect of Scottish independence.
The First Minister made the claim during a fiery exchange at FMQs on Thursday after Offord attacked Swinney's decision to attend the historic Celtic Alliance meeting this week.
SNP leader John Swinney, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill signed a memorandum of understanding during the meeting in Cardiff on Monday morning.
Along with Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald, who is the leader of the opposition in the Irish Dáil, the leaders called on the UK Government to “prepare for, plan and facilitate constitutional change”.
But Offord accused the SNP of using independence to create “distraction and division”, arguing that the party should instead focus on issues including the economy, education and the NHS.
He also claimed that Scotland did not want another independence referendum “anytime soon”.
But Swinney hit back by pointing to the results of this year’s Holyrood election, in which the SNP won 58 seats compared with 17 for Reform.
“It’s really quite remarkable that Malcolm Offord, who seems to think he knows the views of the people of Scotland better, having lost the election, when I’ve in fact won the election, seems to be in a very agitated state about the prospect of Scottish independence,” Swinney said.
“It suggests that he knows he’s got something to fear.”
He went on: “That the prospect of being able to take our own decisions on the economy, being able to use the energy wealth of Scotland to lower the bills for the people of our country, to make sure that we could have good trading relationships with Europe – which Malcolm Offord and his ilk have absolutely sabotaged.
“That is perhaps an illustration of why the people of Scotland in increasing numbers, as demonstrated by recent opinion polls, support the concept of Scottish independence and why people in Scotland want that choice.”
Swinney concluded: “And I'm going to make sure the people of Scotland have that choice in this parliamentary term.”
