SNP's Independence Referendum Strategy 'Doomed to Failure', Claims Joanna Cherry
John Swinney's strategy for securing another Scottish independence referendum has been branded 'doomed to failure' by former Nationalist MP Joanna Cherry, who has launched a scathing attack on the SNP leader's election approach in a new book published today.
Scathing Critique of SNP Leadership
In her book Keeping The Dream Alive, Ms Cherry delivers a blistering assessment of the current SNP leadership, accusing them of adopting what she describes as a 'back to the future strategy' that mistakenly sets an outright majority as the mandate for another independence vote.
She argues the SNP finds itself in a 'mess' and that the party's popularity 'has plummeted' since the last Scottish parliament election in 2021, with most voters now believing the Scottish government is not performing well.
Historical Comparison to Culloden Defeat
Ms Cherry draws a striking historical parallel, comparing Swinney's bid to secure an SNP majority to the tactics employed by the Jacobite army at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, which resulted in a 'miserable' defeat.
'There is more than a whiff of Culloden – where the Jacobites chose the wrong ground on which to fight the government forces and lost miserably – about the SNP strategy,' she writes. 'It fails to take account of the ground we are fighting on now.'
Fundamental Strategic Flaws Identified
The former MP insists the current political landscape is 'totally different' from the strategy successfully employed by Alex Salmond to secure the 2014 independence referendum.
She criticizes what she calls an 'all of our yesterdays' approach, arguing that leadership has 'totally failed to address any of the relevant facts about what is happening today.'
'By going for an "all of our yesterdays" approach the leadership have totally failed to address any of the relevant facts about what is happening today,' Cherry asserts. 'It is a strategy that is doomed to failure.'
Swinney's Dismissive Response
When questioned yesterday about whether he would be reading Ms Cherry's critical assessment, First Minister John Swinney offered a brief and dismissive response: 'I don't intend to.'
This exchange highlights the growing tensions within the SNP as the party grapples with its independence strategy ahead of future elections, with prominent figures like Cherry openly challenging the leadership's direction.
