In 2014, Professor Stiglitz was part of the group of advisers who recommended that Scotland should retain the pound through a formal currency union with the rest of the United Kingdom in the event of independence – but said he now believed the SNP should have been bolder. A YouGov poll in the Times newspaper on Friday put support for remaining at 54 percent to 46 percent.
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The “seismic changes” that took place over the summer will have a “deep impact”, Ms Sturgeon will say.
“To ensure that the voice of everyone in Scotland is heard in these changed times, I am today launching Scotland’s biggest ever political listening exercise”, Sturgeon will tell SNP lawmakers in Stirling, according to a statement.
The First Minister will use a speech in Stirling to try to breathe new life into the case for separation following the UK-wide vote to leave the EU.
“The debate must include an examination of independence”.
But Mr Rennie said Ms Sturgeon had “betrayed those words she uttered in parliament” by failing to explore all options to keep Scotland’s European Union status and instead had opted for independence.
However, Scottish business leaders have urged a rethink on a new drive for Scottish independence, warning that it would add “fresh uncertainty” while businesses are seeking stability.
The Scottish Government is already drawing up legislation that could pave the way for another ballot on independence, and while Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have all vowed to oppose this, the minority SNP administration could see a referendum Bill passed if it is backed by the Scottish Greens.
Speaking as she launched her party’s plan for the new parliament yesterday, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said: “We are opposed to a second referendum in the lifetime of this parliament”.
However, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie accused Ms Sturgeon of consigning the cross-party consensus “to the dustbin”.
Amid turmoil caused by the Brexit vote, Labour in-fighting, and the Tories remaining in power at Westminster, the SNP believes the political moment may be right to look again at Scotland’s future.
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They said: “A failure to do so, by re-starting an unwanted referendum campaign, would be tantamount to a major breach of trust by the Scottish Government to the two million Scots voters who voted No in the 2014 independence referendum”.
