Nationalists set on vote for Scottish independence

Edinburgh: Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has his sights set on an eventual vote on Scottish independence after using his first year in power to seek to show his Scottish National Party (SNP) has the capacity to govern.

In last May's election, the pro-independence SNP became the largest party in the Scottish parliament, set up in 1999 under the Labour government's devolution plan, although it did not gain an absolute majority.

The result ended Labour's 50-year dominance in Scotland.

Since then, the SNP has navigated its way through the political pitfalls of minority government.

"We have evolved a system of shared objectives, the overriding [one] of which is to raise sustainable economic growth in Scotland to a much more competitive level," Salmond told Reuters in an interview.

First year successes, he said, included ending bridge tolls, abolishing pharmaceutical prescription charges, removing student fees to give free public education through university, freezing council taxes for 2008-09 and gaining the 2014 Commonwealth Games for Glasgow.

"It's been a rapid first year, but in terms of achievement 'you ain't seen nothing yet'," he said.

Public support for the SNP's aim of independence varies from poll to poll. A YouGov poll in Saturday's Times newspaper gave a figure of 19 per cent, while other analysts put it at up to 30 per cent.

It's been a rapid first year, but in termsof achievement 'you ain't seen nothing yet'."