Speaking in Edinburgh on Tuesday, Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has set out a renewed case for Scottish independence.
Presenting the first of several papers which outlines the Scottish National Party’s [SNP] case for independence, Sturgeon said that it was time to deliver a “different and better vision” for Scotland and that Westminster was taking the country “in the wrong direction”.
Sturgeon was supported in her address by Patrick Harvie, the joint-leader of the pro-independence Scottish Green Party, with which the SNP agreed a government coalition deal following last May’s Scottish Parliament elections.
The SNP emerged as the largest party at Holyrood in 2021 but fell just short of an overall majority.
According to Sturgeon, the series of independence papers outlines the “massive opportunities” that an independent Scotland could capitalise on, alongside how the Scottish government would address the challenges of heading an independent nation.
Titled Independence in the Modern World. Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why Not Scotland?, the first paper compares Scotland to other countries in Europe, which Sturgeon said were independent and both wealthier and fairer than the UK.
Further papers in the series will explore how an independent Scotland could handle launching its own currency, taxation and spending policies, defence, social security and pensions, as well as plans to become a member of the EU and strike its own trade deals with other nations.
Sturgeon insisted that the Scottish government had an “indisputable mandate” for a second independence referendum following last May’s election result, which she said had left a “decisive majority” of MSPs backing independence.
However, the UK government has maintained its position that now is not an appropriate time to be discussing a second referendum on Scottish independence.
The prime minister’s spokesman said: “The UK government's position is that now is not the time to be talking about another referendum
“We are confident that the people of Scotland want and expect their governments to be working together to focus on issues like the global cost-of-living challenges, war in Europe and the issues that matter to their families and their communities.”
Opposition parties in Scotland have also hit out at Sturgeon and the Scottish government for putting the issue of independence above more pressing matters.
Scottish Tory MSP Donald Cameron suggested that most Scots wanted Holyrood to focus on recovering from Covid, adequately resourcing the NHS in Scotland and addressing the cost-of-living crisis, while Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said that the Scottish government was more concerned with its “independence obsession than everyone stuck on the longest NHS waiting lists in history, the cost-of0living crisis or the climate emergency.”
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, suggested that Sturgeon’s renewed case for independence was “disappointing” and simply took Scotland back “to the politics of the past”.
With opposition parties against a second referendum and Westminster also opposed to the idea, Sturgeon conceded it would be a challenge to secure Scotland a second vote on leaving the UK.
She said that any second referendum must “be lawful”, and called on the UK government to “put beyond doubt” the issue of legality by granting a section 30 order enabling an independence vote, as was the case prior to the 2014 referendum.
In 2014, most Scots backed remaining in the UK. It was at the time billed as a once in a generation vote.
During her address outlining her new independence case, however, Sturgeon suggested that she would not let the non-consent of a section 30 order hold back her ambitions, saying that to “uphold democracy here in Scotland, we must forge a way forward, if necessary, without a section 30 order.”
The first minister said that her government’s plans for holding a future referendum would be published in the near future.
Constitution secretary Angus Robertson later told MSPs that the SNP was planning to hold 'indyref2' in October 2023.
Image taken from Wikimedia Commons
