JOHN Swinney has said that he takes “full responsibility” for the SNP’s campaign after a disastrous night for the party.
A number of high-profile MPs have lost their seats, including Joanna Cherry, Alison Thewliss, John Nicolson and Tommy Sheppard.
Speaking in Edinburgh, Swinney said the SNP “needs to be healed and it needs to heal its relationship with the people of Scotland, and I am absolutely committed to doing that”.
He said the party would have listen and engage with the public on the question of Scottish independence.
“In 2021, we asked the people of Scotland to give the Scottish Parliament a mandate to hold a referendum on independence and the public gave that parliamentary mandate to the Scottish Parliament in 2021,” he said.
“It’s a matter of record that that mandate has been thwarted, it has not been enacted.”
Swinney pointed out that the SNP stood on the basis that winning a majority of Scottish seats would “intensify pressure” to take forward the policy on independence.
He added: “I have to accept that we failed to convince people of the urgency of independence in this election campaign.
“Therefore we need to take the time to consider and to reflect on how we deliver our commitment to independence which remains absolute.
“And as somebody who’s devoted their entire adult life to the winning of Scottish independence not for an abstract reason, but because I believe it will transform the lives of our people for the better.
“We need to get that approach correct in the forthcoming period.”
Swinney said he accepted that the SNP need to “learn from the people of Scotland on how we take forward our arguments for independence”.
The First Minister (below) continued: “I have served in government for many years and on many occasions, many issues, I have enjoyed a good and positive working relationship with the UK Government.
“I have to say I’ve been appalled by the quality of that relationship in the last five years in the aftermath of Brexit which for a whole host of reasons which many of you will have heard me rehearsing during the election campaign.
“I have felt the powers of the Scottish Parliament eroded by the response to Brexit.”
