Harriet Cross MP is Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland.

There could hardly have been a more damning illustration of the SNP’s distorted priorities than John Swinney’s conference speech.

On Saturday, the SNP leader took to the stage in Aberdeen to proclaim that the referendum campaign was already well underway (though many of us hadn’t realised it had ever stopped).

In what should be the oil and gas capital of Europe, how many times do you think he mentioned this critical North Sea industry? Zero. But independence? That got a shout out not once, not twice, but thirty times.

The stars, he said, were aligning in his campaign to break up the United Kingdom. The wind, he said, is now firmly in the sails of Scotland’s independence movement.

While the good ship SNP may be steaming ahead in their pursuit of separation, those left on dry land in Scotland are worried about their children’s schools, getting a doctor’s appointment, and paying their energy bills.

Because we’re wise to John Swinney’s game now. We know that when the chips are down he’ll do anything to avoid talking about the issues he actually has control over. The responsibilities that the SNP have been underperforming on for two decades.

It’s far easier for him to start another argument about “mandates” and “levers”, to make demands for another referendum and to attack Westminster than to focus on his actual job.

In Scotland, child mortality is the highest of any of the four UK nations.

A&E waiting times recently hit their worst level since December 2024, and we are not even into winter yet.

Scottish pupils are lagging behind their English counterparts in maths, science and reading.

Drug deaths in Scotland remain the worst in Europe.

And there is a £5 billion black hole in Scotland’s finances, because the Nationalists refuse to tackle the ballooning benefits bill.

These statistics should be a source of shame for the SNP, who should be, and indeed should want to be, fully focuses on tackling these crises.

Instead, the SNP are returning to their safe old home turf of talking about independence, which for so long has been a useful distraction from the areas they actually control.

And that tells us all we need to know about the SNP after they’ve been in power for nearly two decades.

When the conversation is about independence, the SNP get to point angrily at Westminster and shift the blame onto literally anyone and anything else.

When the conversation is about child mortality, NHS waiting times, schools, drug deaths and the struggling economy, the SNP have to talk about their own record.

It’s hardly surprising that they want to avoid this at all costs.

The SNP would do well to remember what their role is. They are not an opposition party, for all their protestations. They are not a constitutional pressure group. They are in Government in Scotland.

And after nearly two decades in power, the SNP must be judged on their record and the promises they’ve broken.

The Scottish Parliament already possesses extensive powers over the issues that determine people’s everyday lives.

Health is devolved. Housing is devolved. Education is devolved. Justice is devolved. Local government is devolved.

The SNP has controlled these levers since 2007.

But in Scotland the drug-death rate in our most deprived communities is a staggering fifteen times higher than that of the least deprived. There were 41,443 homelessness applications last year and almost 3,000 households reported sleeping rough.

These failures cannot simply be deposited at Westminster’s door.

Nor can they be explained away by arguing that Holyrood requires yet more transfers of power. The uncomfortable question for the SNP is what have they done with the powers they already possess?

That is the question John Swinney be answering.

Instead, he used his conference speech to, again, promise that independence is just around the corner.

Scotland has been trapped in this political Groundhog Day for far too long.

Every few months there is another initiative, another policy paper, another speech, another summit or another debate at Holyrood designed to return independence to the centre of Scottish politics.

Meanwhile, the problems piling up in the First Minister’s in tray do not disappear.

People waiting for treatment on the NHS don’t get seen faster because the First Minister gives another speech about independence.

A homeless child does not get a roof over their head because another constitutional motion passes at Holyrood.

A family devastated by drugs does not get their loved one back because SNP ministers have found another way to demand a referendum.

The tragedy is that Scotland could and should be doing so much better.

We are an energy powerhouse. We have world-class universities. We produce top-quality food and drink exported across the globe. We have financial services, manufacturers, defence expertise and some of the most extraordinary natural resources.

And Scotland enjoys all those advantages while being part of one of the world’s largest economies.That is why the Conservatives will never allow the SNP to dictate the terms of the constitutional argument. The rest of the United Kingdom is overwhelmingly Scotland’s largest market. Around 60 percent of Scottish exports go to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

That means Scottish businesses can sell into a huge domestic market without an international border, separate currencies or the additional barriers that separation would bring.

We pool resources across four nations. We share a currency. Our energy infrastructure is interconnected. Millions of families, businesses and communities have connections stretching across the United Kingdom.

And we have a shared history of immeasurable value.

The principle behind the Union is simple, we are stronger when we pool our resources and confront our challenges together. That case has become more important, not less.

Look at the world around us.Russia is waging war in Europe. Energy security has returned to the centre of national policy.

Countries are fiercely competing for investment and skilled jobs. This is hardly the moment to spend years erecting new constitutional and economic barriers within Scotland.

Scotland should embrace the enormous advantages we already possess.

That means getting taxes down.

Backing North Sea oil and gas. Removing barriers to enterprise. Building infrastructure. Attracting investment. Reforming public services. Getting people off welfare and into work.

Building homes and reinstating the local connection rule.

Treating drug addiction with the seriousness demanded by the death toll.

After almost twenty years in power, blaming Westminster is no substitute for governing Scotland.

And another independence debate is no substitute for fixing the country.

That’s why the Conservatives, under the leadership of Kemi Badenoch and Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay, have been crystal-clear.

We will not allow another independence referendum, we will not devolve any more powers to the Scottish Government, and we will not rest until they use the powers they do have to actually benefit the people of Scotland.