JOHN Swinney decided to cut short the Scottish Government’s series of white papers on independence after becoming First Minister, newly published documents show.
The papers, published by the Scottish Government in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, show that Culture Secretary Angus Robertson was happy for the series to proceed.
This was expected to be the case when Swinney took over for his second term as SNP leader in May 2024, soon after Humza Yousaf was forced to resign following his decision to unilaterally end the governing Bute House Agreement with the Greens.
At the time, a Government spokesperson said that the SNP administration's work on the constitution would continue, including “the publication of upcoming papers in the Building a New Scotland [BANS] series”
When Swinney took office as First Minister, the SNP Government had published 13 BANS papers. The series was started by Nicola Sturgeon’s administration with a view to answering key questions about the vision for independence.
Yousaf had been planning to publish at least two further white papers on independence – a plan which Robertson, who was Culture Secretary under all three first ministers, had supported.
Now, documents have shown that Swinney met with officials in the Scottish Government’s Constitutional Futures Division in August 2024 to discuss the future of the series before cutting it short.
The briefing notes state: “The SNP manifesto of 2021, and the subsequent Scottish Government Programmes for Government, pledged to provide the people of Scotland with the information they need to make an informed choice on Scotland’s constitutional future. The BANS series of papers is intended to deliver on those commitments.
“The series was also intended to supplement discussion on the process for securing an independence referendum with material to support a discussion on the policy substance of independence.
“The national conversation on independence supported by the Scottish Government in the 2007-2010 period generated a number of policy papers which were mined subsequently during the production of the independence white paper, Scotland’s Future, in 2013.
“The BANS series should play a similar role, providing a repository of policy analysis and propositions for use at the appropriate time … We have discussed the terms of this submission with the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, who is content for it to proceed.”
However, the papers show that Swinney was offered two options: “publish one further paper only, badged as an overview”; or “continue in line with previous plans”.
Elsewhere, the newly published documents state that most of the stakeholder activity on the BANS series had been “non-media and not public facing”.
It reported that there had “generally been a positive response from stakeholders to engaging with ministers and officials on proposals in the series”.
The documents also revealed that Yousaf had been planning to deliver his second speech on Scotland’s economy after independence – after one in January 2024 – on April 25, 2024. That was the same date he ended the deal with the Greens, and the speech was “cancelled at short notice”.
