SNP conference: Keith Brown says SNP will still have mandate for independence even if its loses votes at general election

The SNP’s deputy leader Keith Brown has defended the SNP’s new independence strategy

Keith Brown says the SNP will still have a mandate for independence even if they lose seats at the next general election.

As day two of the SNP conference gets underway in Aberdeen, the party’s deputy leader says both Labour and the Conservatives need to say why they won’t recognise Scotland’s desire for independence.

On Sunday SNP members backed Humza Yousaf’s new independence strategy, which states if the SNP wins the majority of Scottish seats at the next general election, the party will demand the powers to hold a referendum to be transferred from Westminster to Holyrood.

Keith Brown MSP. Image: John Devlin/National World.

This means the SNP will need to win at least 29 seats at the general election.

The number of UK Parliament constituencies in Scotland is decreasing from 59 to 57, meaning the number of seats needed for a majority will also fall from 30 to 29.

Speaking on BBC’s Good Morning Scotland on Monday, Mr Brown said the SNP would still have a mandate for this even if they lost seats at the election, but still won more than half.

In the 2019 general election, the SNP won 48 seats. But if Labour puts on a performance like it did at the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, they could get up to 40 seats in Scotland at the next election.

Mr Brown said: “If in the UK a party of government, as has happened many times in the past, wins the election again with fewer votes, you’re saying they didn’t have a mandate. Of course, that’s not the case.

“We would have that mandate because we would have won the election, and I think people understand that.

“And if we do that, then we will enter into independence negotiations and set out other processes, which will lead to Scotland taking a different path from the rest of the UK.”

This could prove tricky as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he would reject any requests for a second independence referendum if he becomes prime minister.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also ruled out the possibility of indyref2.

When asked what will happen if the UK Government does not agree to these negotiations, Mr Brown said: “The real question is why the Labour and Conservative parties are setting their faces against democratic mandates.

“We need to realise how strange and unhealthy a situation that is and they need to answer why they won’t respond to mandates that have been granted.”

The comments came ahead of Mr Brown’s speech to the SNP conference on Monday afternoon, where he is expected to criticise Labour and the Conservatives for “decades of mismanagement” and “decisions taken without any consideration for Scotland”.

During his radio interview. Mr Brown added: “I think this strategy provides an alternative to the old consensus between the Conservatives and Labour, especially as Labour are saying they will support Brexit and continue to ignore Scotland wanting to be in the EU, and will stick with austerity.

“The last words of the last Labour government were ‘there’s no money left’ – [shadow chancellor] Rachel Reeves is saying that’s what will guide them into government. This sets out how we break that cycle by choosing independence and ridding ourselves of an austerity government.”