John Swinney has been criticised for spending the first weekend of the election campaign talking about independence instead of people’s day-to-day concerns.
The First Minister will today address die-hard Nationalists at a Believe in Scotland rally on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill.
Russell Findlay, who will instead be waiting tables as he meets hospitality workers in Perthshire, said it showed Mr Swinney’s priority would always be breaking up the UK.
The Scottish Tory leader warned that the First Minister would ignore the country’s needs and push for another referendum if the SNP won a majority in May.
He said: ‘John Swinney should be talking about the issues that matter most to people.
‘He should be talking about the cost-of-living crisis, that his sky-high taxes have helped create, and fixing the NHS, which has been wrecked by 19 years of SNP incompetence.
‘Instead, he and his supporters will be waving flags and demanding the break-up of the UK.
‘It would be very easy to dismiss it as a bit of a joke, but it’s not a joke. He thinks he’s going to win a majority, he’s going to say that will give him a mandate for another divisive and damaging referendum.
John Swinney will on Saturday address a rally on Calton Hill, Edinburgh
‘Then he’s talking about being the prime minister of an independent Scotland in five years’ time. It’s not a laughing matter.’
A recent Savanta survey for the BBC found only 13 per cent of Scots said ending the Union was a top three concern – and just 31 per cent of SNP voters.
But Mr Swinney had set his party a target of winning a Holyrood majority, claiming it would trigger a referendum, based on the ‘precedent’ of the 2011 SNP landslide.
The UK Government cannot be forced to grant a vote, but Mr Findlay says a ‘weak’ Keir Starmer might agree, especially if he needed help from SNP MPs to stay in power in future.
Mr Findlay said: ‘The SNP’s independence obsession is Swinney’s only priority in this election. My party will focus on the real priorities in this election.
‘That’s why I’ll be waiting some tables while John Swinney is rabble-rousing about breaking up our great country.
‘I want to experience first-hand how tough it is for Scottish hospitality businesses which are being hit hard by the SNP’s brutal rates hikes.’
While Mr Swinney attends the nationalist rally, Scots Tory leader Russell Findlay will be waiting tables as he meets hospitality workers in Perthshire
On a visit to BAE in Glasgow yesterday, Mr Findlay also warned the SNP would sacrifice high-paying defence jobs relying on UK orders in thier dogmatic pursuit of independence.
He said: ‘Every politician in the country should support Scotland’s defence businesses and workers who help to keep our country and our allies safe.
‘Yet petty SNP politicians are so blinded by their desire to break up the UK that they would rather see it destroyed.’
Today’s Nationalist rally in Edinburgh is billed as a call to ‘End London rule’. As well as the First Minister, Scottish Green co-leaders Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer are billed to appear.
Mr Swinney will tell the rally the ‘prize’ of independence is up for grabs in May and it could lead to lower energy bills and protect the NHS from privatisation.
