John Swinney and his Government have been accused of presiding over a “lost decade” since the independence referendum. Wednesday is the 10th anniversary of the poll which saw 55% of Scots vote to stay in the UK.

John Swinney has rallied SNP activists to focus on convincing people of the merits of independence as he looks to recapture the “optimism” from 2014, ten years after the referendum.

JOHN Swinney has said he wants to make sure people see independence as the solution to day-to-day challenges as the SNP launches a new leaflet on the issue

As the 10th anniversary of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum is marked, here's what staying in the Union has meant for Scotland and the UK as a whole.

"So, people can see the positive impact of decisions been taken here in Scotland." Mr Swinney said the challenge for independence supporters is to "extend that on to other issues