THE SNP's now embarrassing slogan ''Free by 93'' was well and truly

buried at the party's national executive committee at the weekend when

leaders decided to adopt a fresh four-year plan for victory.

Taking a more realistic longer-term view, leader Alex Salmond said

afterwards that the party's task over the next four years was to build

on the increased vote in the General Election and the increase in seats

won at the district elections while capitalising on the popular support

for independence in Europe.

Perhaps significantly he made no mention of attempting to be more

socialist than the Labour Party which appeared to be the campaigning

ethos of part of the SNP at the General Election.

As for political campaigning, Mr Salmond is giving his troops a summer

break, with a two-month period of rest and recuperation before the party

goes back on the offensive at the end of August, building up to the

annual conference in Perth in September.

Party morale had faltered after the General Election when the

breakthrough never came, despite the increase in votes. Since then, the

improved showing in the district council elections, where the

Nationalists managed to break Labour strangleholds on councils such as

Kilmarnock and West Lothian, has helped raise heads a little.

The SNP also sees the European Summit in Edinburgh at the end of the

year as a means of putting itself back in the public eye. As national

secretary John Swinney said yesterday: ''People will see that despite

the European Summit being in Edinburgh, there will be no Scottish Prime

Minister sitting at the table.''

The four-year plan, building up to the next General Election, is not

just a political one. The party's organisation and funding will also be

examined.

Recruiting new members will continue to be a priority. In the past,

there has always been a flurry of new members leading up to an election,

with little recruitment done in between.

The task now will be to persuade more of the 600,000 or so people who

voted SNP at the General Election to join the party.

There is also a general feeling that the party has to sharpen up its

organisational techniques. The way the other parties conducted their

election strategies will be studied to see what lessons can be learned.