Stephen Flynn, who holds the Economy, Tourism and Transport portfolio in the Scottish Government, is expected to press Prime Minister Andy Burnham on granting voters north of the border a fresh vote on independence. At the SNP conference opening in Aberdeen on Thursday, Flynn — who transferred to Holyrood following May's Scottish election after previously leading the party's Westminster group — is set to put forward the demand.

John Swinney, Scotland's First Minister, has stated his intention to hold another independence referendum before 2031 and expressed his personal view that Burnham — whose visit to Scotland is anticipated on Friday — will prove to be the final prime minister to lead the United Kingdom as a whole. At his party's conference, the Labour leader told delegates he was "utterly determined" to prevent that outcome. Those earlier remarks — in which he appeared to leave open the possibility of another referendum under certain conditions — later required clarification and partial withdrawal.

Flynn is set to use his address at the party conference to put a constitutional question directly to the Prime Minister, as the SNP prepares what it describes as its largest drive for independence since 2014. In a planned address, he intends to deliver a pointed message directed at Andy Burnham.

Flynn is expected to characterise any forthcoming debate on Scotland's future as a choice between the SNP's vision for the country and what the party views as a restrictive approach emanating from Westminster, while also extending a direct invitation to the Prime Minister to put the question of the United Kingdom's constitutional arrangements to a public vote in Scotland. The SNP's position backs a "new Scotland in the European Union", he is set to argue, whereas the unionist parties at Westminster remain attached to an "old idea of what the United Kingdom once was".

Flynn is expected to address SNP members with a pledge that the party remains committed to the goal of independence. A plan for Scotland's future has been put forward. "Not rooted in memories of a country that was, but of what a country can be."

Following May's poor election results, Keir Starmer left the role of prime minister, with Labour also losing ground across the devolved nations — the SNP holding off Scottish Labour to take a fifth straight Holyrood majority, while Plaid Cymru overtook Labour in the Senedd to become the leading party in Wales. Flynn is set to address how gains made by nationalist parties at the ballot box carry broad implications stretching across these islands.

His broader argument, as he is expected to present it, holds that Plaid Cymru's advances at the polls in Wales — taken together with those his own party secured in Scotland — helped strip away the governing authority of yet another prime minister whose power rested on Westminster's foundations. Flynn is expected to describe Starmer as the eighth prime minister to leave office during the SNP's tenure at Holyrood, then draw a connection between that statistic and what Flynn characterises as Andy Burnham's preoccupation with John Swinney and the Scottish National Party.

The speech will include the assertion that the Labour leader holds the view that no UK prime minister can realistically maintain their position for as long as the ties binding the Union remain under strain.

Scottish Labour's deputy leader, Dame Jackie Baillie, characterised the matter as an attempt by the SNP to draw attention away from its own record in office. Baillie said Flynn and the SNP had put forward no detailed proposals on healthcare, education, or public services, choosing instead to prioritise a renewed push for independence along the lines of the 2014 referendum. Debate continues over whether the SNP's political messaging around Scottish grievances addresses the concerns most voters hold. Dame Jackie Baillie argued that people across Scotland are entitled to a government whose attention stays on everyday priorities rather than recurring disputes over constitutional arrangements.