Alex Salmond will announce plans today to form an all-party “Team Scotland” to negotiate with Westminster in the event of a Yes vote.
In a speech at the SNP conference in Aberdeen, the first minister will say that the group will “secure expertise from across the political spectrum and beyond” and begin work immediately after the referendum.
“The discussions will be held in accordance with the principles of the Edinburgh Agreement,” he will say.
“That means with respect and in the interests of everyone in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
“The campaigning rhetoric will be over. The real work will begin.”
The Aberdeenshire East MSP will also use his address to make the point that a vote for independence is “not a vote for me, or an SNP government”.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made the same argument yesterday in a direct call to traditional Labour supporters to “reclaim” their party by voting Yes.
Mr Salmond will say: “This referendum is not about this party, or this first minister, or even the wider Yes campaign.
“It’s about putting Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands. Our party is hugely popular, and we are currently 5, 10 and 15 points ahead in polls for Westminster, Europe and Holyrood respectively.
“But a Yes vote in September is not a vote for me, or for an SNP government in 2016.
“It’s a vote for a government in Scotland that the people of Scotland choose, pursuing policies the people of Scotland support.
“A government in control of tax, the economy, social security, employment, immigration, oil and gas revenues, European policy and a range of other areas currently under Westminster control.”
Earlier yesterday, Mr Salmond led a tribute to the late Margo MacDonald, who represented the party as an MP in Glasgow Govan and an MSP for the Lothians.
He said that “no star has burned more brightly and shone more luminously” than Margo MacDonald.
The comments were followed by a one-minute applause as a mark of respect for the late politician, who was laid to rest yesterday at a private family funeral.
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