John Swinney's return to SNP politics as usual didn't take long – Scotsman comment

John Swinney’s suggestion that independence can be achieved in five years demonstrates he’s going to keep the country marching towards this political mirage

Anyone labouring under the misapprehension that John Swinney’s government would accept independence can only be a long-term aspiration and knuckle down to the hard work of fixing the NHS, education and the economy didn’t have long to wait for a return to SNP politics as usual.

According to our new First Minister, independence can be achieved in five years “because the arguments for it are compelling”. Leaving the UK, he said, was “the answer” to “severe economic and social damage” caused by “bad decisions taken in Westminster”.

So Scotland’s ‘long march’ into the wilderness looks set to continue as Swinney leads us onward towards a shining vision of utopia that is somehow always just out of reach. His followers may be struggling to get medical treatment, access decent education or pay their bills, but the mirage that sits stubbornly on the horizon keeps them trudging ever onwards.

Political mirages can be just as dangerous as those that lead travellers astray in the desert (Picture: David McNew/Getty Images)

Or so Swinney likes to believe – a Savanta poll this week suggests increasing numbers are slipping away, with the SNP on 33 per cent, down two points, and Labour on 37, up two.

Get our weekly opinion newsletter for expert analysis from The Scotsman’s team of columnists