First Minister John Swinney has insisted he wants to “finish the task” on Scottish independence – with the SNP leader declaring this to be an “urgent priority” for him.

He claimed those who favour leaving the UK were “getting closer and closer to Scottish independence”, with Mr Swinney adding: “I intend to finish the task.”

With no prospect of a second referendum taking place in the near future, however, Mr Swinney said this would have to be done by persuading more Scots independence is a “compelling proposition”.

Asked about his commitment to the cause, the First Minister said: “I think everybody knows John Swinney well enough to know that he’s committed to Scottish independence and wants to deliver it as an urgent priority.”

We've got to build political support for independence so that independence is a compelling proposition to the people of Scotland. That's what I'm all about

While he told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme that an independent Scotland had once been a “very distant prospect”, he added that Yes campaigners “got incredibly close to winning” in the 2014 referendum.

While Mr Swinney went on to say opinion polls “show that public support for independence is very, very high” he stressed the importance of increasing this further if Scotland is to leave the rest of the UK.

The SNP leader stated: “We’ve got to build political support for independence so that independence is a compelling proposition to the people of Scotland. That’s what I’m all about.

“Scottish independence will only come about if two things happen: if support for the Scottish National Party is very high; and if people are convinced by the merits and the arguments for Scottish independence.

“And that’s what I intend to make sure is that the heart of SNP campaigning and at the heart of the SNP manifesto.”

While he said he wanted Scottish independence “as quickly as possible”, the First Minister stated the change “will only happen when the people of Scotland are persuaded in enough numbers that independence is the best future for our country”.

Alastair Cameron, the chair of the pro-UK campaign group Scotland in Union, however, said that voters had “roundly rejected” the SNP manifesto for the 2024 election where “the issue of independence was famously page one, line one”.

With the SNP returning nine MPs in July’s general election – down from 39 in 2019 – Mr Cameron insisted: “That vision was roundly rejected by the people of Scotland, and it will be again if the nationalists make it a similar priority in 2026.”

He continued: “People will be very concerned to hear the First Minister describe separation as an urgent priority while the NHS is on its knees, education is in free-fall and council services have been cut to the bone.

“The public want a government focused on real priorities, not the SNP’s obsession with breaking up the UK.”