Swinney says ‘stars are aligning’ for Scottish independence as SNP meets

His lifelong goal is independence for Scotland and on Saturday the leader of the Scottish National Party underlined that the country was more ready than ever to go it alone outside of the UK. 2026 has been a turning point in Scotland's journey towards statehood and there is no turning back. The SNP is making the weather and the wind is now firmly in the sails of Scotland's independence movement. He pointed to the biggest pro-independence majority ever in the Scottish Parliament, although the SNP in its fifth consecutive term fell short of an overall majority earlier this year. Scotland has been part of the United Kingdom for about 300 years, but many people there have long felt that the decisions being made here in London don't take their needs into account. The UK's Prime Minister has promised that will change, making a major speech in Scotland for the first time on Friday. He said that handing more power to local areas across the country would give people what they need. How much time would be wasted just debating what differentiates us rather than saying, right, what can we agree on? And let's talk about that rather than talking about the other stuff. Scotland has had a chance at independence before. In 2014, more than 55% voted to stay part of the United Kingdom. But two years later, the UK held a referendum on leaving the EU, and Brexit became a reality, despite every region of Scotland voting to remain. That strengthened calls for another vote on independence. But in 2022, the UK Supreme Court ruled that couldn't happen without consent from London, which is currently unlikely. Last month, the leaders of Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish parties met in Cardiff to declare their right to decide whether they should remain in the UK. But our common cause here is the understanding that Westminster does not and will never serve our people well. Polls in Scotland vary, with voters often split down the middle on whether to leave the UK. But there are many here for whom only independence will do. Frances Reid, Al Jazeera.