The SNP: a lacklustre manifesto?
Voters 'getting weary' of familiar fare from Scottish National Party

The Tories aren't the only ones facing the prospect of "electoral Armageddon" next week, said John Crace in The Guardian. Things are also looking bleak for the SNP.
The latest polls suggest that, in the face of a Labour resurgence, the scandal-racked party could win just 15 of the 57 Scottish seats in Westminster, down from their current 43.
Voters 'weary'
The SNP's election manifesto, unveiled last week by the party's new leader, John Swinney, is unlikely to transform the situation. It sounds just like the last one, and the one before that.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There is the usual demand for Scottish independence. The same talk of joining the EU. Predictably, it calls for an end to austerity, including a £10bn increase in health funding in England – which would generate an extra £1bn for Scotland through the Barnett formula. It's hard to be inspired by such familiar fare from the party that has been governing Scotland for 17 years.
Voters are "getting weary of this kind of politics", said The Scotsman. They want their elected leaders to improve Scotland's substandard public services, not spend more time and energy – and taxpayers' money – on fighting Westminster. The SNP missed a good opportunity to set a new course, agreed The Times. "A government that cannot build ferries for its far-flung islands, introduce legislation that will stand up in the courts, bring down waiting lists or improve the performance of its schools should surely explain how it intends to reverse those failures."
'Separatist mindset'
The margin in many Scottish seats is very narrow, said Andrew Grice in The Independent, so the SNP may yet do better than expected. And even if Scottish voters do swing behind Labour next week to "get the Tories out", there's no guarantee they'll help it regain power from the SNP at the 2026 Holyrood elections. "Scots are not yet emotionally invested in Labour", and remain split down the middle on the question of independence.
What's really noticeable about the political mood north of the border today, said Gerald Warner on Reaction, is just how little interest there is in the Westminster election. It is viewed with the same indifference as elections to the EU parliament. "Scots have come to regard Holyrood elections as the ones that matter."
This is an alarming development for those who believe in preserving the United Kingdom. For it suggests that the "separatist mindset" is now embedded among Scotland's voters, and that if the SNP are "ever able to cobble together a plausible fiscal scenario for independence, the Union will be in serious danger".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'More must be done'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Are masked ICE agents America's new secret police?
Today's Big Question Critics say masks undermine trust in law enforcement
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Trump's strikes on Iran: a 'spectacular success'?
In Depth Military humiliations 'expose the brittleness' of Tehran's ageing regime, but risk reinforcing its commitment to its nuclear program
-
Labour's brewing welfare rebellion
The Explainer Keir Starmer seems determined to press on with disability benefit cuts despite a "nightmare" revolt by his own MPs
-
RFK Jr.: How to destroy vaccination
Feature Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaces all 17 members of the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice
-
ICE: Targeting essential workers
Feature After a brief pause, the Trump administration resumes its mass deportation plan
-
'No Kings': A turning point for the resistance?
Feature Millions of Americans nationwide took to the streets to protest against the Trump administration
-
Trump: Making the military into a 'partisan militia'?
Feature Donald Trump held a military parade just days after sending troops to stop protests in Los Angeles
-
Is the US sliding into autocracy?
Talking Point Donald Trump's use of federal troops on home ground, dismissal of dissent and 'braggadocious' military posturing are all symptoms of a shifting political culture
-
Will Iranians revolt?
Talking Point The chasm between Iran's rulers and their subjects is 'as great now as it was when Iranians toppled the Shah'