SNP win at next election will spark preparation for ending the Union

Humza Yousaf said winning the most seats at next year’s poll would give the Scottish Government a “mandate” to begin the process of breaking up the United Kingdom – while reiterating calls for a second referendum.

The SNP leader made the comments on The Sunday Show, hosted by Martin Geissler and was speaking after his headline speech to the party’s independence convention in Dundee the day before.

Questioned on the specifics of his party’s new independence strategy – also outlined in his speech on Saturday – Yousaf said the Scottish Government would consider a victory for the SNP in next year’s general election a mandate for beginning preparations to end the Union.

This would include having civil servants prepare a draft legal text for withdrawal from the Union, sending a special envoy for Brussels to pave the way for Scotland’s readmission to the EU and drafting a new “interim” constitution, he said.

READ MORE: Humza Yousaf sets out independence strategy plan for General Election

“There are a few things that are new to the plan, actually," said Yousaf.

"First and foremost, we’ve never been as explicit as having a proposition, a simple, powerful proposition, a vote for the SNP is a vote for Scotland to become an independent country on page one, line one of the manifesto.

“So it will be absolutely, abundantly clear to people, if they’re voting for the SNP, they are voting for Scotland to become an independent country to support that proposition.

“Secondly, it doesn’t just give us a mandate to seek negotiations with the UK Government, it actually gives us a mandate to get on ourselves as the Scottish Government to lay the foundations of a newly independent state.

“And we’ll do that through a number of different ways. For example, a draft legal text on the withdrawal agreement, the drafting of an interim constitution, the creation of a special envoy to Brussels because our case for independence is based on a Scotland in the European Union, so it gives us a number of mandates but ultimately, just a reminder here, that it is the Westminster parties that continue to deny Scotland its democratic choice and the question that we must put to them, is if this is a voluntary union they have to prove it.

“What way can Scotland become an independent country? “

Grilled on what would constitute “victory” for the SNP in the next election, Yousaf said: “You know the rules of a General Election, they’re pretty simple. The party that wins the most seats, of course, wins the General Election.

"So if we win that General Election, we will therefore seek that mandate to negotiate with the UK Government on how to put that proposition into democratic effect.”

READ MORE: Humza Yousaf leaves SNP convention address to speak directly to heckler

Yousaf reiterated during a separate interview on Sunday with Sky News’ Trevor Phillips that he would prefer to see the UK Government grant a second independence referendum.

He said: “It's worth reminding people that, of course, our preferred option, the option for which we have multiple mandates for is of course for that legally binding referendum and that has been denied time and time again by the UK Government.”

And he set out again the SNP’s new position – different from that under Nicola Sturgeon in which a “de facto referendum” would be considered won with anything over 50% of the popular vote – that victory would be determined on seats won.

He added: “Everybody knows the rules of a General Election. The party that wins the most seats wins the General Election.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: "People in Scotland want both their governments to be concentrating on the issues that matter most to them, like growing our economy, halving inflation and improving public services.

"We want to work constructively with the Scottish Government to tackle our shared challenges because that is what families and businesses in Scotland expect. 

“This is not the time to be talking about distracting constitutional change.”