Scottish Conservative MP Harriet Cross has criticised First Minister John Swinney for attending a "separation summit" in Cardiff with Plaid Cymru and Sinn Féin, accusing him of ignoring the outcome of May's Holyrood election. She argues Swinney explicitly campaigned on the basis that an SNP majority would provide a mandate for a fresh independence referendum, but the party fell well short, with pro-Union parties collectively winning nearly 60 per cent of the vote, meaning he has no democratic basis to keep pursuing the issue.

At the Cardiff meeting, Nationalist leaders including Swinney, Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth, and Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill and Mary Lou McDonald declared that "Westminster's time is coming to an end" and called on Westminster to "prepare, plan and facilitate" constitutional change across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with Swinney predicting another referendum within five years. Cross contends this shows desperation rather than momentum, and argues Swinney should instead focus on problems within his control, such as NHS waiting times, falling school standards, ferry services and the North East's oil and gas industry, after nearly two decades of SNP government. She also notes that new Prime Minister Andy Burnham drew criticism after appearing to suggest Scotland has the same legal route to a referendum as Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement provisions, which Cross says is factually incorrect.