
SNP playing ‘old tune' on independence, says Slater
But speaking to the PA news agency, Ms Slater – who was launching her campaign for re-election as party co-leader in Edinburgh – said she does not expect an SNP majority next May.
'This is an old tune that the SNP have been playing,' she said.
'There are several pro-independence parties in the Scottish Parliament – the Greens have been there all along, from the beginning.
'John Swinney, I think, is being a little disingenuous.
'We had a successful pro-independence majority with the Bute House Agreement that the SNP decided to end.'
On her ideas for forcing the UK Government to allow a second referendum, Ms Slater said it is up to those who believe in independence to 'build support' for it.
'We do that by setting out what independence looks like and why it's important,' she said.
Standing against the far-right. We can make a better future in a fairer, greener and independent Scotland. 💚🏳️⚧️🏴🦫 pic.twitter.com/hxvz1J8KKq
— Lorna Slater (@lornaslater) July 30, 2025
'We hear all the time how Brexit has damaged Scotland, it hurts our labour force, meaning business cannot hire employees that they need, it hurts our NHS, we cannot get the carers and workers, and it hurts all of us in our pockets.
'Scottish independence would allow us to build a compassionate asylum system, it would allow us to rejoin the EU, it would allow us to rethink our taxation of wealth, for example.
'Instead of waiting, waiting, waiting for the Government in Westminster to decide what to do, we could make those kinds of decisions here in Scotland, and that's how we win Scottish independence, by getting more people to share that vision.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Record
9 minutes ago
- Daily Record
SNP handling of Flamingo Land resort appeal 'appears unlawful' as scrutiny mounts
The Scottish Government is facing questions over its conduct in the ongoing appeal over controversial plans to build a holiday resort in Loch Lomond. SNP ministers have been accused of 'unlawful and biased' conduct in an appeal over Flamingo Land's controversial Loch Lomond resort. The claim is part of a letter of complaint lodged by Green MSP Ross Greer through his lawyer – which also raises fears key documents may have been falsified. It comes after the Scottish Government 'called in' the £43million bid for a resort on the shore at Balloch, Dunbartonshire, proposed by theme park operator Flamingo Land. Scottish Government civil servants had granted the planning application – overturning an earlier rejection by Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. But this was met by fury from campaigners and politicians against the bid – including Greer and Labour's Jackie Baillie, who threatened a parliamentary vote. Now ministers have been forced to reconsider the case. But Greer has now hit out at 'deeply questionable' decisions in the government's recent handling of the case – including sanctioning a new sped-up draft planning agreement led by Flamingo Land's developers. It follows the reappointment of a senior official, Reporter David Buylla, to organise the case and recommend to ministers despite being the one who approved the resort. Greer, who is running to be Scottish Greens co-leader, said: 'They refuse to hold any public hearings and have asked the same official who tried to approve the plans to mark his own homework by making recommendation for a fresh decision. 'Now they're asking Flamingo Land to draft their own planning conditions on their own terms, against the wishes of the National Park. Is it any wonder that local people get the feeling that the cards are being stacked against them?' It comes as lawyers for the National Park last week criticised the new process as 'highly unorthodox'. In a separate letter to Scotland's Chief Planner, Greer's lawyer Ian Cowan warned ministers aren't following proper procedure and their handling of the called-in appeal 'appears to be both unlawful' and 'tainted by bias'. He said the process should be 'abandoned' and replaced with a fairer one. Cowan added: 'My client does not question Mr Buylla's professionalism. But the recall of the appeal should have meant that he played no further part in it.' He also questioned 'anomalies' in key files published by the government's appeals division last month. A 'minute of appointment' reappointing Mr Buylla to prepare a report for ministers was published on July 4, but purportedly signed off by a senior planning official on June 24. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. However, the document doesn't carry the official's digital signature - and the document's properties show it was created on July 4 - 15 minutes after a different letter by Mr Buylla was published setting out the new process. Cowan has questioned officials on why the document was backdated. Greer told the Sunday Mail: 'I hope there is a simple explanation for this inconsistency in the date of the official's appointment, because it is hugely concerning. 'There needs to be full transparency here if the public are to have any confidence in this process.' The Scottish Government said it decided to recall the appeal as 'the proposed development raises issues of national significance'. It added: 'As this is a live planning appeal it would not be appropriate to comment further." Flamingo Land 's lawyers have said complaints about the new process are 'without substance'.


Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Keir Starmer is 'seriously considering' introducing digital ID system as a way to tackle immigration and bring public services back into shape, ministers say
Sir Keir Starmer is giving serious consideration to the idea of introducing a digital ID system - in defiance of longstanding warnings by civil liberty advocates. The Prime Minister reportedly sees the proposal as necessary if Labour is to crack down on illegal immigration and make public service delivery more efficient, The Times reported. As Director of Prosecutions, Sir Keir was a self-styled 'moderniser' who singled out the use of paper files and the need for the profession to utilise modern IT solution. Now cabinet colleagues say that the PM has growth increasing convinced of the need to harness the power of technology to challenge some of the biggest problems facing his government. While no proposal is expected soon, Downing Street is reported to be considering the 'workability' of issuing every individual a unique digital identifier. The tag would be used to check an individual's right to live and work in this country, as well as their eligibility to access healthcare or housing. Advisors to Sir Keir believe such a system could help smooth the friction between individuals and the state, and have noted the success of the official NHS app. There would reportedly be no requirement to carry any kind of physical ID card, in much the same way as national insurance cards work now. The tag would be used to check an individual's right to live and work in this country, as well as their eligibility to access healthcare or housing A system of identity cards was originally introduced in September 1939 under the National Registration Act - but it was repealed in May 1952. Pictured: An enumerator visits a household in the UK to deliver a compulsory registration form to a householder A system of identity cards was originally introduced in September 1939 under the National Registration Act - but it was repealed in May 1952. A huge driver for the introduction of a universal digital ID appears to be a new paper by the Tony Blair Institute, commissioned by Starmer's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney. The paper presents digital ID as a crucial step in meeting the demands of voters in the modern world, as well helping to curtail immigration in a bid to neuter the threat of Reform UK. The proposal has reportedly been met with enthusiasm by several of the most influential figures in the Labour cabinet. Proponents of the scheme are believed to include health secretary Wes Streeting, technology secretary Peter Kyle and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden. One senior Labour figure told The Times: 'I think it is now coming. Yvette is no longer resistant. They're working through the how.'


Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
73 Holyrood fat cats paid over £100,000 as satisfaction with public services falls
The number of Scots civil servants earning more than £100,000 a year has soared under the SNP, the Scottish Mail on Sunday can reveal. Taxpayers are footing the bill for a growing army of civil servants - many of whom are predominanty allowed to work from home - as satisfaction with public services plummets. Overall, the Scottish Government now employs an unprecedented 73 mandarins who are officially ranked as Senior Civil Service (SCS) - mostly heads of various departments and directorates. In total, this upper tier of civil servants now costs the public purse an astonishing £8.6m a year in wages, with the vast majority earning in excess of £110,000 - three times the Scottish average annual salary. Earlier this year the SNP administration's finance secretary Shona Robison slashed millions from the budgets for the NHS, mental health and transport, claiming Scotland was facing 'enormous and growing' financial pressure. Despite this, the number of senior civil servants employed to run the country has grown sharply - as has the cost. At the same time, the civil service has come under fire for its refusal to abandon 'working from home' and for a 'sick-note' culture in which government staff take far more days off than workers in the private sector. Critics have attacked the 'out of control' cost to taxpayers and accused the SNP Government of getting its priorities all wrong. Scottish Conservative spokesman for finance and local government Craig Hoy said: 'The civil service, and the cost of it, have ballooned out of control under the SNP's watch, and by far the biggest expansion has been in those on the highest salaries. 'When Scots are paying the UK's highest taxes, but seeing worsening services, there 's no excuse for fat-cat pay packages of this sort.' Callum McGoldrick, researcher at the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'At a time when public services are clearly under pressure, it's hard to justify the steady growth in high-paid civil servants at the top of the Scottish government. 'With budgets being squeezed across the board, Scottish taxpayers will be asking whether ministers have got their priorities right. 'The focus should be on improving services for the public, not inflating the salaries bill in Holyrood.' The Scottish Government recently published its annual list of Senior Civil Service staff, reflecting the situation at the end of March. Overall there are now 73 SCS on a wage bill of totalling £8.6m. The number is higher than the 66 staff on six-figure sums last year, which had added up to a total wage bill of £7.5m. In comparison, there were 52 SCS on £100,000 in 2023, 38 in 2021 and just 14 as recently as 2018. The current list includes director generals of government departments - plus heads of directorates including Cladding Remediation, Covid Inquiry Response, Organisational Continuity and Heat In Buildings. The highest paid is Caroline Lamb, director general of the health department and head of the Scottish NHS, whose salary is listed between £205,000 and £209,000 a year. Four other staff are listed as earning over £150,000, including former Permanent Secretary JP Marks who took home £190,000 as the country's most senior civil servant before leaving in April to take up a new job as chief executive of tax agency HMRC. He was replaced by Joe Griffin, who in his former role as the Scottish Government's director general of strategy & external affairs earned £140,000 a year. The official responsible for the country's finances is director general of the Scottish Exchequer Alyson Stafford who takes home £160,000. The list shows a further nine civil servants earning between £120,000 and £150,000 a year. Most are director generals of departments including Communities, Corporate, Economy, Education & Justice, and Net Zero. Overall 45 officials earn between £110,000 and £120,000 a year - including the government's directors of Corporate Transformation, Digital, and Propriety & Ethics. Meanwhile the public are increasingly unhappy with the public services the government provides. A survey published earlier this year by research firm Ipsos shows almost three in four Scots (74 per cent) think public services in their local area have got worse in the last five years. Of those, 62 per cent believe the Scottish Government is mainly responsible for the deterioration. Half of Scots (51 per cent) say they are dissatisfied with the quality of health services, while 28 per cent are dissatisfied with the quality of primary and secondary education, and half (51 per cent) are dissatisfied with the quality of policing. The civil service has also been criticised for clinging to the working from home policies initially imposed in the wake of Covid. Since the pandemic in 2020, working from home or hybrid working has been the default option for many staff. New rules introduced to try and boost productivity mean that, from October, staff will have to turn up at the office at least two days a week. The figure is lower than the equivalent policy for civil servants working for the UK government in Whitehall, which states that civil servants must spend at least 60 per cent of their time working in the office. However the edict has sparked complaints from some Scottish civil servants about the cost of having commute more regularly to government offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Some have raised concerns about the environmental impact of driving themselves to work - while others have warned the order to return to the office is 'an attack on their human rights'. Separately it emerged in June that Scotland's civil servants last year took an average of 8.7 days off sick - the worst recorded rate of absence in the government's history, and more than double the rate across the private sector. Although levels of pay for SCS staff are reserved to Westminster, the size and hierarchy of the civil service in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Government. Responding to the criticism levelled at it, the government argued that its senior civil servants brought valuable expertise - while also vowing to deliver 'optimum value' for taxpayers. A spokesperson said: 'Senior civil servants manage performance and delivery, and ensure the Scottish Government achieves its goals. They bring significant expertise and progress the government's plans for delivering on its Programme for Government. ' It also said its public service reform strategy will 'ensure every pound spent delivers optimum value' and will 'reduce the annual combined corporate costs of the government and Scotland's public bodies by £1 billion over five years'.