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John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, has said that Scotland is closer to independence than it was in 2014.

According to PA Media, Swinney made the claim at an event marking the 10th anniversary of the referendum, which saw voters rejected independence by 55% to 45%.

Swinney said that promises made to people who voted No (ie to remain in the UK) had been broken. He said since 2014 the Scottish parliament had been given new powers, and that it had used these to pass progressive policies, like the Scottish child payment, a more progressive tax system, and votes at 16. He went on:

These are all positive legacies of Scotland’s referendum … The lesson is? I will tell you. Constitutional change delivers real change.

That’s Scotland’s legacy in the last ten years.

He said Keir Starmer was disproving claims that Scotland needed, not independence, but just the removal of the Tory government at Westminster.

For 10 years – 10 long years – Labour told us we don’t need independence. All we need to do is get rid of the Tories.

Well, it’s taken Keir Starmer less than ten weeks to completely demolish that argument.

He said the referendum 10 years ago set a positive example to the world, because it showed a constitutional dispute being resolved peacefully and democratically.

The world was watching us [in 2014] – waiting to see if they were about to witness the birth of the world’s newest independent country.

But of course, no matter the outcome, we all knew that we were witnessing something hugely significant.

That’s because, in this corner of our planet, a debate about constitutional change was being conducted peacefully and democratically, with both sides committed to respecting the result.

In a world all-too-often scarred by acrimony and conflict – we must not lose sight of the positive example Scotland set for people across the globe.

It is a huge responsibility to sit in the Treasury as the first female chancellor of the exchequer and be able to use my position to improve life for women across the UK – one that I don’t take lightly.

That includes ending the gender pay gap, strengthening rights at work and investing in childcare. And by backing the Invest in Women Taskforce we can establish one of the world’s largest dedicated investment funding pools for female-powered businesses, helping grow our economy.