John Swinney has axed the post of minister for independence, in a clear signal to Scottish voters that his government is focused on their immediate cost of living concerns before the general election.
The post, held by Jamie Hepburn, was created by the previous first minister, Humza Yousaf, a year ago, with the main responsibility being publishing a series of papers on how different aspects of government would operate under Scottish independence. With no referendum imminent, opposition parties criticised the publications as a waste of taxpayers’ money. The 13th in the series, on justice in an independent Scotland, was published last month.
Alyn Smith MP, the Scottish National party’s Europe spokesperson at Westminster, told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme that “all of our government ministers are focused on independence in Europe”.
Swinney said on Monday when he became the SNP leader that he wanted to persuade people of the case for independence by creating a “vibrant economy” and tackling challenges across public services.
The announcement came as part of Swinney’s limited cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday. After being sworn in as first minister at the court of session, he appointed Kate Forbes as his deputy. The former finance secretary stepped aside to allow Swinney to stand unopposed for the SNP leadership.
Forbes, who narrowly lost to Yousaf in last year’s leadership election to replace Nicola Sturgeon, is a social conservative who split the party when she disclosed she would not have voted for equal marriage. She has also been critical of the stalled gender recognition reform bill, which was passed with cross-party support at Holyrood, then blocked by Westminster.
Asked on Wednesday if she had a message for LGBTQ+ people after her return to cabinet, Forbes said she would support Swinney in “finding places of consensus”.
Swinney also brought back Ivan McKee, a key ally of Forbes and a respected business communicator, as minister for public finance. Emma Roddick, the minister tasked with guiding the bill to ban conversion practices through Holyrood, returns to the backbenches.
Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Greens’ co-leader, accused Swinney during first minister’s questions of sending a message to voters that the government was now moving rightwards with Forbes’ appointment.
“Yesterday that signal came pretty clearly: progressive ministers sacked and the second most powerful job in government given to someone who has opposed LGBT people’s legal equality, who’s expressed judgmental attitudes against abortion, and who’s even expressed the view that people who have families without being married are doing something wrong,” Harvie said, in reference to Forbes.
“Is this the Scottish government’s vision for the future of Scotland, taking us back to the repressive values of the 1950s?”
Swinney rejected that attack, insisting his government “will be led from the moderate left of centre position that I have always occupied”.
Pressed again by Harvie, Swinney told MSPs: “I want to lead a modern, dynamic and diverse Scotland, a place for everybody. Where everybody feels at home, at peace, that they have a place and that their place in our society is protected by my leadership of this country.”
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Thursday morning, Harvie’s fellow co-leader, Lorna Slater, said her party was experiencing a “surge” in membership, “particularly people in the LGBTQ+ community [who] are now looking at the SNP and thinking: ‘Oh my goodness, is this really the home for me?’.”
Smith said”Scotland’s a big tent but we’re too small a community to exclude people, and people of faith should have a role in politics.” He said Forbes’ position on equalities issues was “a matter for her to work through her conscience”.
