Nicola Sturgeon has insisted there is an “indisputable mandate” for a second independence referendum, as she launched the first of a series of papers “making the case afresh for Scotland becoming an independent country”.
The Scottish First Minister spoke out as a new Scottish Government paper was published.
The Scottish Government said the document, entitled Independence in the Modern World. Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why Not Scotland? “sets the scene” for the debate about Scotland’s future in the UK.
As it was published, Ms Sturgeon said her victory in last May’s Holyrood elections – which saw the SNP pledge to hold another referendum – and the pro-independence majority amongst MSPs meant the Scottish Parliament has an “indisputable democratic mandate” for such a vote.
“We intend to honour that,” the First Minister told a press conference at her official residence, Bute House in Edinburgh.
Speaking to journalists, Ms Sturgeon said: “Scotland, like countries across the world, faces significant challenges.
“But we also have huge advantages and immense potential. The refreshed case for independence is about how we equip ourselves to navigate the challenges and fulfil that potential, now and in future.”
She continued: “In their day-to-day lives, people across Scotland are suffering the impacts of the soaring cost of living, low growth and increasing inequality, constrained public finances and the many implications of a Brexit we did not vote for.
“These problems have all been made worse or, most obviously in the case of Brexit, directly caused by the fact we are not independent.
“So at this critical juncture we face a fundamental question. Do we stay tied to a UK economic model that consigns us to relatively poor economic and social outcomes which are likely to get worse, not better, outside the EU?
“Or do we lift our eyes, with hope and optimism, and take inspiration from comparable countries across Europe?”
‘Clear commitment to give the people of Scotland the choice of becoming an independent country’
Ms Sturgeon said it was “time now to set out and debate” the case for Scotland to leave the UK
The First Minister stated: “After everything that has happened, Brexit, Covid, Boris Johnson, it is time to set out a different and better vision.
“It is time to talk about making Scotland wealthier and fairer. It is time to talk about independence and then make that choice.”
Ms Sturgeon insisted when she was re-elected as First Minister last May it was on a “clear commitment to give the people of Scotland the choice of becoming an independent country”.
She noted that Holyrood had a “decisive majority” of MSPs in favour of independence, as she insisted: “The Scottish Parliament therefore has an indisputable democratic mandate.”
Spoken with Boris Johnson
The First Minister stressed, however, that any vote on independence “must be lawful” as she insisted that if the UK Government “had any respect at all for democracy” it would grant a section 30 order, allowing a legally binding referendum to be held, as happened in 2014.
Ms Sturgeon said she had made clear to Boris Johnson today that she is “ready to discuss the terms of such an order at any time”.
But she insisted: “My duty, as the democratically elected First Minister, is to the people of Scotland, it is not to Boris Johnson or to any Tory prime minister. This is a UK Government that has no respect for democracy.
“That means if we are to uphold democracy here in Scotland we must forge a way forward, if necessary, without a section 30 order.”
While she accepted Holyrood’s competence to legislate for a referendum was “contested”, she added that “is the situation we must navigate to give people the choice of independence”.
Ms Sturgeon said work on this was “well under way”, adding that she would give a “significant update” about this to Holyrood “very soon indeed”.
