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Kemi Badenoch hits out at both Andy Burnham and John Swinney as she demands end to 'endless' referendums

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Howarth, M. (2026, October 15). Kemi Badenoch hits out at both Andy Burnham and John Swinney as she demands end to 'endless' referendums. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16212783/Kemi-stop-talking-endless-independence-referendums.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

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Daily Mail · collected 2026-10-15 · by Mark Howarth

Quick Summary

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, criticized John Swinney and Andy Burnham for advocating further referendums on Scottish independence and Brexit respectively during her visit to Edinburgh. She described Swinney as a "broken record" due to his repetitive stance on another independence referendum and urged both leaders to stop discussing what she termed “endless” referendums, which she believes have distracted the country from addressing serious issues. Badenoch also hinted at a potential review of Holyrood powers, suggesting that devolution should not be treated as an unchangeable principle but rather as a flexible process open to scrutiny and reform.
Written by AI on 2026-10-15, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 15, 2026, Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State for Scotland and Conservative Party leader, criticized Andy Burnham and John Swinney during a visit to Edinburgh, accusing them of promoting "endless" referendums. Specifically, Badenoch called Swinney a "broken record," referring to his announcement about launching another independence campaign in Scotland. She argued that such discussions are divisive and distract from addressing the country's issues, emphasizing her support for reviewing Holyrood powers instead. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister suggested Labour might promise another referendum on Brexit if they form the next government. Badenoch warned against unrealistic expectations tied to referendums, comparing them to previous debates over EU membership that did not resolve underlying problems.

Written for “Kemi Badenoch Criticizes Referendums” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Kemi Badenoch Criticizes Referendums
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 7% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News
Hedges 6 of 41 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss different aspects and timeframes related to Brexit referendums but do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 1 of 18 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss different reactions to Andy Burnham's stance on Brexit but describe distinct events involving separate critics and contexts.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 4 of 44 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different aspects and contexts related to Kemi Badenoch's political stance, but do not appear to be reporting on the exact same incident or time.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 4 of 47 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss different statements made by Kemi Badenoch on separate occasions.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 5 of 22 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles describe different political reactions to the prospect of another Scottish independence referendum, rather than a single specific event.”
BBC News
Hedges 5 of 35 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A focuses on Kemi Badenoch's criticism of Andy Burnham and John Swinney regarding referendums, while Article B provides a broader context of UK political debate with a focus on the SNP conference and Conservative leader's visits.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 3 of 15 claims Outlet record 65/100
“Article A covers Kemi Badenoch's criticism of Andy Burnham and John Swinney regarding referendums, while Article B reports on John Swinney's speech at the SNP conference about Scottish independence. Although related to similar topics, they describe different specific events.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 14 of 55 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles mention Andy Burnham's stance on EU-related issues and potential referendums, they describe different contexts and reactions to his statements.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 0 of 25 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles discuss similar political topics involving Andy Burnham and the debate around Scottish independence and Brexit, they describe different statements made on separate occasions.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 2 of 19 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss related topics and involve overlapping political figures, but they describe distinct events occurring at different times.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
28
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
2 of 28 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
68/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-15 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 8478 article(s) · 20 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 20 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Mark Howarth
7 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Mark Howarth
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 7 articles by Mark Howarth →

Topics

Conservative Party Holyrood Labour SNP Scotland

Subjects

Badenoch PERSON · 4× John Swinney PERSON · 4× SNP ORG · 4× Andy Burnham PERSON · 2× Kemi Badenoch PERSON · 2× Scotland GPE · 2× Conservative Party ORG · 1× Holyrood ORG · 1× Labour ORG · 1× Swinney PERSON · 1×

Narrative

On a visit to meet entrepreneurs in Edinburgh on Thursday, Mrs Badenoch said: ‘I cannot believe that Andy Burnham is reopening this can of worms, when we saw how much chaos there was last time with an extremely divisive referendum. ‘
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-15
🔮 Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has suggested a future Labour manifesto could promise another in-out referendum on Brexit.

Claims (28 extracted, 2 hedged)

Kemi Badenoch has demanded John Swinney and Andy Burnham stop talking about 'endless' referendums as she backed a review of Holyrood powers. asserted
she → demand → powers
The Conservative Party leader described Mr Swinney as a 'broken record' after the First Minister’s announcement of the launch of another independence campaign. asserted
leader → describe → campaign
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has suggested a future Labour manifesto could promise another in-out referendum on Brexit. uncertain
manifesto → suggest → Brexit
On a visit to meet entrepreneurs in Edinburgh on Thursday, Mrs Badenoch said: ‘I cannot believe that Andy Burnham is reopening this can of worms, when we saw how much chaos there was last time with an extremely divisive referendum. ‘ asserted
we → meet → referendum
I understand that not everybody got the result that they wanted. asserted
they → understand → that
But just as we had people who thought that leaving the EU would solve every problem, that the EU was the cause of every problem, we now have the reverse of people believing that we need to rejoin and every problem will go away. asserted
problem → have → reverse
‘We need to stop talking about having endless referendums, whether it’s on Scotland leaving or whether it’s on the EU. asserted
it → need → EU
Kemi Badenoch has called John Swinney a 'broken record' on independence ‘It’s time for us to start using the powers that we have now and the opportunities to start generating growth for the whole of the United Kingdom.’ asserted
we → call → Kingdom
A new Scottish independence campaign is being launched during the SNP’s conference in Aberdeen this weekend. asserted
campaign → launch → Aberdeen
Mrs Badenoch said: ‘John Swinney, like the rest of the SNP, has run out of ideas. asserted
Swinney → say → ideas
They don’t know what Scotland needs. asserted
Scotland → know → what
‘All he talks about is independence. asserted
he → talk → ?
He doesn’t know how to make people healthier. asserted
people → know → ?
He can’t improve their education. asserted
He → improve → education
We have more people than ever dying from drug deaths. asserted
We → have → deaths
'What’s John Swinney doing about that? asserted
Swinney → do → that
He has run out of ideas. asserted
He → run → ideas
Quite frankly, he and his party need to take a good look at themselves and ask, “What is the point of us?” asserted
point → need → us
We told last week that Mrs Badenoch is considering a review of devolution that could see powers withdrawn from the Scottish Parliament. uncertain
powers → tell → Parliament
The move is part of a strategy to switch away from the ‘devolve and forget’ approach of previous Conservative governments. asserted
move → switch → governments
The Tories have also demanded that the SNP government lift its ban on nuclear energy north of the Border. asserted
government → demand → Border
Mrs Badenoch said: ‘If they are using devolved planning policy to stop reserved energy policy, that is a problem. asserted
that → say → policy
‘We need to look at how we fix those problems rather than just shrug our shoulders and say, “Oh well, it’s devolved, we can’t do anything.” asserted
we → need → anything
I don’t think it’s good enough. asserted
it → think → ?
We should find a way.’ asserted
We → find → way
She added: ‘This is why we said maybe we need a review and it’s something that we wanted our MSPs to be looking at. asserted
MSPs → add → that
It’s not a religion which we should worship. asserted
we → ’ → which
If a process isn’t working, how can you improve the process rather than just say the process is there, there’s nothing we can do. asserted
we → work → process
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