John Swinney has welcomed comments from a Scottish Labour MSP who suggested the threshold for holding a second independence referendum should be settled by a convention.
The SNP leader said the independence question “can’t be ignored”, following comments from Paul Sweeney.
Mr Sweeney, who was re-elected as a Glasgow MSP at last week’s election, said some kind of consensus was needed in order to move beyond the political “paralysis” created by the debate around indyref2.
The SNP’s requests for a second vote on the independence question have been repeatedly refused by successive UK governments.
Speaking to the BBC’s Scotcast podcast, Mr Sweeney was asked about Labour’s stance on Scottish independence and another referendum on the issue.
He said the vote share for pro-independence parties had dropped at the election and it had become a “minority pursuit”.
Mr Sweeney suggested there should be an agreed approach on what the threshold for holding a referendum would be.
He said: “Maybe we need to just actually agree something across the parties and settle that threshold so we can move on with the rest of our political debate.”
I think that's a welcome contribution to the debate from Paul Sweeney, because he is beginning to recognise that the independence question's got to be addressed
The question is leading to “paralysis” in Scottish politics, he said, adding: “Perhaps it does need to be settled in some sort of convention.”
Mr Swinney was asked about the Labour MSP’s comments as he visited the Western General hospital in Edinburgh, his first such visit as First Minister since the election.
He told the Press Association: “I think that’s a welcome contribution to the debate from Paul Sweeney, because he is beginning to recognise that the independence question’s got to be addressed.
“It can’t be ignored, and the UK Government is trying to ignore it, despite the fact that today we have in the Scottish Parliament the largest number of independence-supporting MSPs we’ve ever had.”
He continued: “Of course, I want to make sure that Scotland’s future is in Scotland’s hands, so I’ll happily engage in constructive discussions on that question.”