Speaking in an interview with the Scottish Sun, John Swinney was asked: “When will Scotland next vote on independence?”
He then responded: “Soon.”
Conor Matchett, the newspaper’s political editor, then pressed down on a big red button – which he previously called the “big red buzzer of waffle”.
READ MORE: Swinney blasts Labour and Tories for refusing to consider rejoining EU
When asked the same question, Swinney again said: “Soon.”
It comes after the SNP leader rejected his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon’s assertion in a Financial Times interview that indyref2 is “off the radar now”.
Swinney said: “No, I don’t think it is. I think what, if we talk in this interview about the economic circumstances that we face, I think it’s pretty clear that economic management in the UK and economic opportunity is deeply flawed and deeply weakened because of the folly of Brexit,” Swinney said.
“Now the way to sort Brexit is for Scotland to become an independent country and rejoin the European Union, that will open up economic opportunities for our country.
“It will, crucially, allow us to have our approach to migration which will actually be in our economic interests other than the folly that’s been pursued by the UK Government.”
(Image: BBC)
Swinney also said there should be a Northern Ireland-style deal for Scotland.
According to the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, which maintains the fragile peace in Ireland, there can be a unification poll if the UK Government identifies sustained majority support for the reunification of Ireland.
The First Minister said: “We’ve now got a situation in Northern Ireland, for example, there is an accepted means by which the constitutional status of Northern Ireland can be changed, i.e. there can be a border poll.
“But there is not apparently the possibility of such an opportunity for a process and a route to exist for Scotland and that’s not good enough and that’s not appropriate for a democracy.”
Scotland’s journey to independence would be similar to that of the journey to devolution, Swinney predicted, saying that the referendum held to create the Scottish Parliament was a confirmation of what he said was the obvious will of Scots.