John Swinney has been criticised for appearing at a "separatist summit" in Cardiff alongside Sinn Féin and Plaid Cymru figures, with opponents accusing the First Minister of ignoring the majority of Scots who oppose independence rather than focusing on domestic issues. Critics, including Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay, said his presence beside Sinn Féin representatives would unsettle those who remember the Troubles, while others dismissed the event as a distraction from problems in education, health and the economy.

At the Cardiff summit, Swinney joined Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill and Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth, signing a memorandum of understanding and predicting another independence referendum within five years, despite the SNP failing to win a majority in May's Holyrood election. Opponents noted that pro-Union parties took the majority of votes in that election, and pointed back to the decisive 2014 referendum result of 55% to 45% against independence, arguing Swinney's "mandate" claim was unfounded.