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.
In a set-piece speech on Wednesday morning, Mr Swinney said Scotland is now closer to independence than it was 10 years ago, while he used a debate in Holyrood later to say the “people of Scotland should have the opportunity to take that decision again”.
But Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross claimed the three SNP-led governments since the vote have focused more on the constitution, to the detriment of issues facing Scotland.
“As historians look back over the last 10 years, they will see them as Scotland’s lost decade,” he said.
“The years in which we divided our country and fought bitter arguments against ourselves on an issue we had already voted on.
“Generations of Scots will come to see this as a national act of self-harm.
“They will wonder why some chose to continue the same arguments again and again, why the government of the day chose to indulge in fantasy politics instead of dealing with the real issues faced by our country, or why the national interest was ignored for the SNP’s nationalist interest.
“My message to John Swinney and the SNP Government is this: You lost, get over it and let us all move on.”
But as he opened the debate, the First Minister made the case for another referendum.
“The people of Scotland were able to take their decision (in 2014), and my firm view in opening this debate today is that the people of Scotland should have the opportunity to take that decision again,” he said.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross described the 10 years since the referendum as a ‘lost decade’ (Andrew Milligan/PA)
“This Parliament has confirmed its belief that it should be open to any nation of the United Kingdom to choose to withdraw from the union by democratic means – that is my view and I believe the view of this Parliament should be respected.”
In his speech earlier to SNP activists, he said: “People can see as a consequence of the pressure to get more powers here in Scotland we have added to the achievements and the strengths we have already put in place.
“People can see the positive impact of decisions being taken here in Scotland.”
He added the “challenge” for independence supporters is now to convince more Scots that their priorities could be better addressed outside of the UK.
Mr Swinney said: “I think we are closer to achieving that than we were in 2014.”