Scotland’s yawning fiscal deficit – at 9.5%, more than twice that of Britain as a whole – has put into question whether it would be better off as an independent country, with a low oil price making balancing the books hard without unpopular austerity measures which the SNP opposes.
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The “National Survey” will be sent to the party’s members across the country, with hopes that it will reach over two million Scottish voters by St Andrew’s day this year.
The Scottish First Minister, 46, who has no children, revealed how she lost the baby in the first trimester of pregnancy when she was 40.
“She should listen to the two million Scots who voted No in 2014, and the majority of people who now say they don’t want a second referendum”.
The “seismic changes” that took place over the summer will have a “deep impact”, Ms Sturgeon will say.
“Can there be a coalition across the United Kingdom that gets the United Kingdom into a more sensible position?” she said.
In a statement to coincide with the publication, Ms Sturgeon said: “This was obviously a painful experience for Peter and I and while Mandy has known about it for some time, she has always respected our decision not to talk about it publicly”.
The party vowed in their last manifesto not to press for another referendum until there had been a “significant and material” change in circumstances – such as Brexit – and public support for it. With a nod to the 38% of Scots who voted to exit the European Union in June, she said: “Whether you voted to remain in the European Union or to leave, the more fundamental question is: who decides?”
Following the Brexit vote, Ms Sturgeon said that Scotland was facing the prospect “not just of being taken out of the European Union against our will but being taken out of the single market altogether”. “We want to build, if we can, a consensus on the way forward”. “The wealth of information and insight we gather will then inform the next stage of our campaign”.
Ms Sturgeon’s SNP formed a minority government after winning 63 seats in May’s Scottish Parliament elections.
In extracts from the book in the Sunday Times magazine, Ms Sturgeon said she is uncertain if she could have been a mother as well as leading Scotland’s devolved government.
According to a YouGov poll, Davidson has the highest net approval rating of any political leader in Scotland, and the Scottish Conservatives are the second most popular party after the SNP and ahead of Labour.
The programme comes on the day the Scottish Government announces 29 new or refurbished schools will open in this academic year.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said the First Minister had “given up on anything but a second independence drive”.
Party sources confirmed that Sturgeon’s view was that remaining within the single market was essential for both Scotland and the rest of the UK.
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A Child Poverty Bill is “arguably the most important piece of legislation we will introduce this year”, Ms Sturgeon said, while there will be a new Climate Change Bill and fresh legislation on land reform after earlier measures from the government were criticised for not going far enough.
