SNP backs Swinney’s ‘clear’ strategy for new independence referendum
SNP members have overwhelmingly backed leader John Swinney’s “clear and unambiguous” independence strategy that a majority election win is the only route to another referendum.On the first day of the party’s annual conference in Aberdeen, the vast majority of members backed the leadership’s motion that next May’s Holyrood elections should be fought on a “clear platform of national independence” and that winning a majority in the Scottish parliament – by securing 65 seats or more – would be “the only uncontested way to deliver a new vote on Scotland’s future”.After a passionate – and at times highly technical – debate, the conference rejected a rebel amendment put by more than 40 local branches that set out a more fundamentalist strategy of treating next year’s election as a de facto referendum, meaning that if the SNP and other pro-independence parties win a majority of the popular vote in 2026, it should be treated as a mandate to open independence negotiations directly.This de facto idea was first promoted by the former party leader and first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who acknowledged it as a “mistake” in her recent memoir.Echoing the confidence of SNP strategists reported in the Guardian yesterday, Swinney told the packed conference hall that “we are within touching distance of the 65 seats that will make the world sit up and take notice” and urged the party to back taking a “clear, unambiguous message” to the public.
Depute leader Keith Brown, who seconded the motion, told delegates: “The only way we can achieve independence is to ask a clear question and get a clear answer,”This call to clarity is key: while independence is not high on the list of voters’ priorities, activists have unhappy memories of trying to explain what many believed was a fatally muddled independence strategy on the doorstep for the general election last year, where the SNP was humiliated by the resurgent Labour party, losing 38 of its 48 Westminster seats,A year on, the party’s pivot to its core message is a mark of renewed confidence, with the SNP once again leading the polls ahead of Scottish Labour and Reform UK, and an understanding that the battleground demographic for the coming campaign is made up of those “soft yes” independence supporters who have drifted away from the party,Speaking for the de facto amendment, veteran activist Graeme McCormick insisted that it was not proposed by “romantic nationalists”,He warned that the SNP was being “hollowed out” because it had failed to inspire its membership with a date for another referendum.
The former MP Tommy Sheppard said it was “remarkable” that such a large conference was able to have such a detailed discussion in public and in front of the media, but insisted there were “no quick fixes”.“We have been chasing the next election for too long,” he said, arguing that the party needed a strategy to take it into the 2030s and deepen support for independence.Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionRegardless of leadership optimism, a majority remains a high bar given Holyrood’s proportional electoral system – the SNP has only won a majority once, under Alex Salmond in 2011.Keir Starmer has repeatedly said he would not grant Holyrood the power to hold a second vote on independence.
Nobel economics prize goes to three researchers for work explaining tech and innovation-driven growth – business live
This year’s Nobel prize for economics is about “creation and destruction” said Hans Ellegren, secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.It has gone to Joel Mokyr, economics professor at Northwestern University in Chicago, the French economist Philippe Aghion of Collège de France, and Peter Howitt, economics professor at Brown University in Rhode Island, “for having explained innovation-driven economic growth”.The Sveriges Riksbank prize in economic aciences in memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded “for having explained innovation-driven economic growth,” with one half to Mokyr “for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress” and the other half jointly to Aghion and Howitt “for the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction.”Mokyr is a Dutch-born American-Israeli economic historian, professor of economics and history and the Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University
Markets rebound amid latest US-China tariff spat as traders look to possible ‘Taco trade’
European stock markets have edged higher and cryptocurrencies rebounded amid signs that a new front in the US-China trade war may not be a severe as first feared.Tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated again on Friday and over the weekend, as Donald Trump threatened to impose additional US tariffs of 100% on China starting next month.The US president accused the country of “very hostile” moves to restrict exports of rare-earth minerals needed for American industry. Beijing said it would retaliate if Trump does not back down.However, Trump and senior US officials opened a door to a possible deal with China on Sunday
UK MPs urged to investigate TikTok’s plans to cut 439 content moderator jobs
Trade unions and online safety experts have urged MPs to investigate TikTok’s plans to make hundreds of jobs for UK-based content moderators redundant.The video app company is planning 439 redundancies in its trust and safety team in London, leading to warnings that the jobs losses will have implications for online safety.The Trades Union Congress, Communication Workers Union and leading figures in online safety have signed an open letter to Chi Onwurah MP, the Labour chair of the science, innovation and technology committee, calling for an investigation into the proposals.The letter warns the cuts could expose children to harmful content, citing estimates from the UK’s data watchdog that up to 1.4 million TikTok users are under 13
Google won’t reveal if it is lobbying Trump about YouTube’s inclusion in Australia’s under-16s ban
Google has told parliament that Australia’s under-16s social media ban will be “extremely difficult to enforce”, but won’t say if it is lobbying the Trump administration about YouTube’s inclusion ahead of Anthony Albanese’s US visit.On Monday, Google and Microsoft appeared before a Senate inquiry on a range of age assurance and verification requirements being applied to social media and other aspects of the internet including search.Google’s senior manager of government affairs and public policy in Australia and New Zealand, Rachel Lord, told the inquiry the under-16s ban – which is expected to include YouTube – will have “unintended consequences” and won’t make children safer.Sign up: AU Breaking News email“The legislation will not only be extremely difficult to enforce, it also does not fulfil its promise of making kids safer online,” Lord told the inquiry.“YouTube has invested heavily in designing age-appropriate products and industry leading content controls and tools that allow parents to make choices for their families
Brydon Carse reveals Stokes and Wood are close to 100% and raring to go for Ashes
Ben Stokes and Mark Wood are expected to be “raring to go” for the start of the Ashes next month, offering England a timely boost that sits in contrast to Australia’s ongoing concerns over the fitness of Pat Cummins.As the two seamers with prior experience of playing Test cricket in Australia, Stokes and Wood are central to England’s plans this winter. Stokes missed the fifth Test against India with a shoulder injury, however, while Wood sat out the entire summer following knee surgery back in March.Things appear to be coming together, at least, with the pair recently training in the heated outdoor nets at Loughborough alongside their Durham team-mate, Brydon Carse. While Cummins says he is “unlikely” to be ready for the first Test Perth that starts on 21 November due his lower back stress issue, England could have a full complement of seamers at their disposal
Pogacar rules cycling world with total pedal power after brushing off mid-season blues
Tadej Pogacar’s command of world cycling now seems limitless. The Slovenian ended 2025 as he began it, dominating a coveted Italian classic, Il Lombardia, to win the “race of the falling leaves” for the fifth time straight.The 27-year-old had started his European season by winning the Tuscan gravel race, Strade Bianche. He closed it having matched Italian icon Fausto Coppi’s record of five Lombardy wins and Eddy Merckx’s achievement of winning three “monument” races, the Tour de France and the world road race title in the same year.In late July, however, a weary Pogacar had talked about early retirement and a sense of burnout, even as he took his fourth yellow jersey
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