John Swinney: IndyRef anniversary can reawaken optimism in Scotland

Ten years after Scotland voted against independence, first minister urges supporters to look to the future

John Swinney has urged independence supporters not to live in the past as he celebrated the 10th anniversary of the independence referendum as a moment of reawakening" for the yes movement.

Speaking to a crowd of campaigners in Edinburgh 10 years to the day since Scotland voted 55% to 45% to remain part of the UK, the SNP leader said: We have had a long, dark decade - a decade of austerity, of Brexit, of a cost of living crisis and a global pandemic."