Swinney insists 'stars are aligning' for Scottish independence

John Swinney will insist that "the stars are aligning" for Scottish independence during his keynote speech to the SNP conference later.

The first minister will tell party members in Aberdeen that 2026 has been a turning point in the country's "journey towards statehood".

Swinney will stress that "in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, every first minister now supports our nations' right to self-determination".

He will seek to press the case for another independence referendum in the wake of elections in May which saw the SNP win a record fifth term in government at Holyrood.

The nationalist first ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland held a summit in Cardiff last month where they signed an agreement, which is not legally binding, that said no Westminster government had the right to "block democracy".

Swinney will tell his party's supporters that "one by one, the stars are aligning in our favour".

He will say that if the SNP lost May's Scottish Parliament election, the case for independence "would have been set back decades".

While the SNP won the Holyrood ballot, the party failed to win the overall majority Swinney had set as a target for trying to force a second referendum in the face of Westminster opposition.

Despite that, Swinney will declare that "there is no turning back".

He is expected to say: "The SNP is making the weather.

"And make no mistake – the wind is now firmly in the sails of Scotland's independence movement."

The first minister will go on to claim that the unionist parties at Westminster are "weaker than they have ever been".