JOHN Swinney is “insulting the intelligence” of the Scottish people on independence, the Prime Minister has said.
The First Minister’s independence strategy was backed by SNP members at the party's conference in Aberdeen last weekend, with a majority for the party being set as the bar for another referendum, as it was in 2011.
However, Keir Starmer has questioned why, after 18 years in power, the First Minister is not seeking to focus on his party’s record in Government ahead of next year’s election instead of focusing on independence.
Swinney said earlier this month that if he was to win the majority he seeks at the Holyrood election in May, the Prime Minister would likely resign.
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Asked about the comments as he spoke to Scottish journalists in Downing Street on Monday, Starmer said: “He’s insulting the intelligence of the Scottish people.
“After 18 years in Government he really needs to explain to you why he’s not running on his record.”
Starmer added that Labour will be running on its record in Government come the General Election in 2029.
“I’m going to go to the country on the basis of what we’ve done for the country,” he said.
“You have to ask him why he doesn’t want to run the election on his record.
“Essentially, there’s a blindingly obvious reason for that, and that’s it’s an appalling record.”
SNP depute leader Keith Brown has criticised the Prime Minister's record in Government saying he simply “cannot get anything right”.
He said: “Keir Starmer’s reverse Midas touch even extends to his own political attacks, he points to waiting lists and police numbers, when waiting lists are falling in Scotland and rising in England, and Scotland has more police officers per head than Labour-run England and Wales.
“He even talks about Great British Energy, which has so far created 13 jobs in Aberdeen, compared to the 1000 which were promised.
“This is a Prime Minister who just cannot get anything right. Once again, Keir Starmer is showing just how little he knows about Scotland.
“The abject failure of Keir Starmer’s Labour Government shows that the Westminster system will simply never work for Scotland and we need the fresh start of independence.”
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