First minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has launched a fresh drive for Scottish Independence, claiming it is time for Scotland to “control its own destiny”.
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After the June vote, Sturgeon said a second independence vote was “highly likely”.
In a speech in Stirling – where William Wallace won a victory against the English that was featured in the film Braveheart – the SNP leader outlined plans for a “listening exercise” to reignite the debate on independence.
Referring to last week’s government expenditure and revenue Scotland figures – which revealed a deficit of almost £15m – as “not a verdict on independence but an indictment of generations of Westminster government”, she announced a new party growth commission, chaired by the former MSP Andrew Wilson.
At the event in Stirling, Ms Sturgeon was to say “seismic changes” following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union will have a “deep impact” on Scotland that needs to now be addressed.
The Scottish Nationalist leader said that repeated polls since the vote had shown increased support for independence.
“There can be no doubt that Brexit raises afresh the issue of independence”, she said.
Nicola Sturgeon has argued that the changed circumstances brought about by the Brexit vote give the SNP the responsibility to lead a new debate on independence, while directly challenging Theresa May over her mandate to take Scotland out of the single market.
It came following protracted discussions with the UK Government, when Ms Sturgeon, 46, also put her name to the 2012 Edinburgh Agreement committing herself to accepting the will of the Scottish people.
In the extract from the book “Scottish National Party Leaders”, Sturgeon, whose husband is the SNP’s chief executive, says she does not know whether she would have become first minister if she had not had the miscarriage.
Sturgeon also moved to address concerns about the ability of the Scottish economy to underwrite her social policies.
“We will consult on a draft referendum Bill so that it is ready for immediate introduction if we conclude that independence is the best or only way to protect Scotland”, she told parliament.
A YouGov poll published a week after the Brexit vote however showed most Scots still wanted to remain a part of Britain, by 53 to 47 percent.
At an SNP event in Stirling on Friday, Sturgeon is kicking off a national debate to build the case for breaking away from the United Kingdom, having delayed the summer initiative because of the fallout from the Brexit decision and as the governing Conservatives changed leader.
And supporters cheered on the SNP leader as she promised change for Scotland in the wake of Brexit.
She added: “That (independence) has to be an option that Scotland has to consider”. Ms May promised to involve Scotland in the talks about the UK’s future in the European Union and spoke against Scottish independence.
Yet Sturgeon has balked at calling for a second Scottish independence referendum outright.
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Women 50:50, a campaign launched by Kezia Dugdale, Lothians MSP for Scottish Labour, and Alison Johnstone, Lothians MSP for the Scottish Green Party which calls for equal representation of women in Parliament, responded by tweeting a panel of male politicians who also do not have children.
