The debate over secessionist strategy in the Scottish independence movement is a well-rehearsed one, having played out multiple times between different, competing parties, wings of the SNP, and individual politicians over decades.

Those of you who witnessed the [[SNP]]’s 2000 leadership contest between John Swinney and Alex Neil must be having flashbacks watching Mr Swinney replay the gradualist versus fundamentalist debate with his erstwhile colleague and Alba leader, Kenny MacAskill, this week.

Of course, history doesn’t repeat, it rhymes, and the same is true of these debates. The independence movement in 2025 is almost unrecognisable from the movement Mr Swinney and Mr Neil competed for leadership of in 2000. It is larger, better supported by the public, and has enjoyed power for nearly two decades. It is also more fractured and divided. But the fundamental debate and nature of its internal politicking are the same.

Through a column by the First Minister in the Daily Record, and the publication of a motion to be put to SNP conference this autumn, Mr Swinney and his team started putting some flesh on the bones of his independence strategy, including establishing a constitutional convention to “marshal support for Scotland’s right to decide” by mobilising the support of the public, civic Scotland, and international observers.

Read more by Mark McGeoghegan

The same motion, as Mr Swinney outlined in his column, will recognise a legally binding referendum as the only viable route to independence, and winning an SNP majority in the Scottish Parliament........

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