Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

SNP leader pitches for independence goal

Fifty-seven seats are up for grabs in Scotland, but the Scottish National Party is expected to lose several constituencies to a resurgent Labour party

SNP leader pitches for independence goal

Scotland's first minister John Swinney on Wednesday pledged to pursue another independence referendum if his party wins a majority of Scottish seats at the July 4 UK general election.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) is expected to lose several constituencies north of the English border to a resurgent Labour party, which is tipped to form the next government.


Fifty-seven seats are up for grabs in Scotland, meaning the SNP would need to win 29 to return more Scottish MPs to Westminster than the other parties combined.

The SNP manifesto unveiled Wednesday promises to "begin immediate negotiations with the UK government to give democratic effect to Scotland becoming an independent country" if it wins most seats.

Swinney confirmed at the launch that meant negotiating for another referendum, a vote that the main Labour and Conservative parties currently oppose.

They maintain that the issue of independence was dealt with during a referendum in 2014 when 55 per cent of voters in Scotland opted to remain part of the UK.

"What this election gives people the chance to do is to intensify the pressure to secure Scottish independence, and to bring that about by voting SNP," said Swinney.

He would not be drawn on what happens to the independence movement if the SNP loses its majority, as many polls are predicting.

An Ipsos poll published this week predicted that the SNP would win around 15 seats, down massively on the 48 it won at the last UK election in 2019.

Labour, virtually wiped out in Scotland in recent elections, is expected to stage a dramatic comeback in its former heartland as it rides a wave of anti-Conservative sentiment across the country.

The SNP has also dealt itself some self-inflicted wounds, while many voters appear weary with it after 17 years in power at Holyrood in Edinburgh.

The party has been engulfed in a financial scandal that led to the arrest of its former leader Nicola Sturgeon last year. Her husband and ex-chief executive of the party was later charged.

Swinney only became leader of the pro-independence party following Humza Yousaf's resignation in May after the SNP's power-sharing agreement with the Greens in Scotland collapsed.

Despite the decline in SNP support, the number of Scots favouring independence has held at around 40 per cent, according to surveys, providing the SNP with some comfort.

Its manifesto pledges that an independent Scotland would immediately seek to rejoin the European Union. (AFP)

More For You

Uber Eats

The Open for Suhoor campaign aims to support small restaurants and improve access to food for those observing Ramadan.

Uber Eats helps Muslim customers find Suhoor meals for Ramadan

UBER EATS is making it easier for Muslim customers in the UK to find late-night and early-morning meals during Ramadan by highlighting independent restaurants open for Suhoor.

The Open for Suhoor campaign aims to support small restaurants and improve access to food for those observing Ramadan.

Keep ReadingShow less
India hosts six of world’s nine most polluted cities

New Delhi was the world’s most polluted capital

India hosts six of world’s nine most polluted cities

DESPITE an improvement in 2024, India again dominated global rankings for the cities with the most dangerous particle smog while Chad was the most polluted country, according to a report published on Tuesday (11).

The report by IQAir, a Swiss air technology company, said India’s Byrnihat was the world’s “most polluted metropolitan area of 2024”.

Keep ReadingShow less
delhi-police-iStock

Police have arrested two people in connection with the incident, which took place on Tuesday. (Representational image: iStock)

British woman raped in Delhi after befriending accused on social media

A BRITISH woman was allegedly raped and molested by two men at a hotel in Delhi’s Mahipalpur area, police said on Thursday.

The woman had travelled from Goa to Delhi to meet one of the accused, a 24-year-old man from east Delhi, whom she had befriended on social media, officials said.

Keep ReadingShow less
pakistan train siege Reuters

An injured man, who was rescued from a train after it was attacked by separatist militants, is brought to a hospital for treatment in Quetta, Pakistan, March 13, 2025. (Photo: Reuters)

Pakistan train siege: Two-day rescue ends, at least 25 bodies retrieved

AT LEAST 25 bodies, including those of 21 hostages, were retrieved on Thursday following a deadly train siege by separatist gunmen in Pakistan, officials said. The retrieval came ahead of the first funerals for those killed in the attack.

Security forces said they rescued more than 340 passengers after a two-day operation that ended late on Wednesday.

Keep ReadingShow less
Overcrowded flat  leads to tragedy

Tower Hamlets landlords fined £90K for overcrowded flat linked to fatal fire

TWO Tower Hamlets landlords have been ordered to pay more than £90,000 after cramming up to 23 people into a small two-bedroom flat licensed for just three residents.

Sofina Begum, 52, and Aminur Rahman, 55, were sentenced at Snaresbrook crown court last Thursday (6) for multiple housing offences related to their fourth-floor property in Maddocks House, Shadwell.

Keep ReadingShow less