Giving a speech in the town where “Braveheart” William Wallace won a historic battle against the English, the Scottish First Minister said she would trigger the “biggest ever political listening exercise” to convince voters a second referendum is needed.
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Yet Sturgeon has balked at calling for a second Scottish independence referendum outright. Since then, Ms. Sturgeon has continued to repeat that the option of a new referendum on independence, after that of September 2014, is on the table.
An extract from the book about SNP leaders, written by Mandy Rhodes and published in a Sunday newspaper, says Ms Sturgeon originally chose not to talk about it publicly.
But Sturgeon said she believed support for separation would increase once the effects of Brexit become clear and argued that the weakness of the main opposition Labour Party meant the centre-right Conservatives could be in power for decades to come.
The SNP party leader also said that leaving the European Union would cause permanent damage to the economy, and warned Prime Mininster Theresa May “I am not prepared to stand by and watch that happen without a battle”.
Sturgeon insisted the case for independence was about more than European Union membership, telling her audience: “Brexit is simply one illustration of the democratic deficit at the heart of the Westminster system”.
Despite Sturgeon’s insistence that the Brexit vote had shifted Scottish opinion, a YouGov poll for the Times Scotland on Friday suggested the figure in favour of independence had barely shifted over the past two years, despite the June referendum.
“We want to know the concerns that people have and the questions that they want answered”.
She also claimed Labour’s decision “to press the self-destruct button” left the country facing “years, perhaps decades, of Tory government”.
She will highlight 29 new or refurbished school buildings due to open to pupils during this academic year under the Scottish Government’s £1.8 billion Schools for the Future programme.
Fueled by Brexit success, Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party, has begun fresh polling for an independence referendum from United Kingdom. It is utterly unjustified and unnecessary.
“The current Labour Party shows little sign of providing that voice so Liberal Democrats must speak up”.
“This summer, we witnessed seismic changes, which will have a deep impact on our ambition for this country”, Ms Sturgeon told an SNP gathering in Stirling. Before the referendum, the Scottish society was polarized regarding the vote – 54 percent were against independence and 46 percent in favor and in the very 2014 referendum, 55 percent voted against and 45 percent in favor.
Her pitch today is that the case for independence has changed, and that she will not be seeking to win people over with the same lines used two years ago.
Victory in a second independence referendum would be the only way of possibly retaining membership as an independent member state.
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The Scottish first minister, who said she was in the early stages of pregnancy when she lost her baby in 2011, said it was a painful experience for her and her husband, Peter Murrell.
