Nicola Sturgeon today said UK politics is "broken" and being tied to Westminster is holding back Scotland's economy.
The SNP leader claimed the UK is "substantially poorer" than independent European countries of a similar size to Scotland as she outlined the financial case for independence.
In an address from Edinburgh, she said that remaining in the Union doesn't offer strength, security or financial stability, as was argued at the last referendum in 2014.
Now the Tories are set to impose more austerity and have battered Scotland with a series of "calamitous decisions", the First Minister said.
Ms Sturgeon after today's Budget climbdown: "It's a sign of how badly broken UK politics is that the Prime Minister's resignation hasn't already been tendered."
She added: "There's no doubt this is a self inflicted crisis for Liz Truss, it's humiliating in a quite unprecedented way is terms of the climbdown, I think the sooner the Prime Minister and indeed the whole government departs the better that will be for everyone"
Reflecting on economic turmoil, she claimed: "More and more the UK looks like an outlier in economic policy, performance and social outcomes. Brexit of course has turbocharged these changes."
The First Minister said that rejoining the EU would be a massive boost for Scottish trade, stating: "Trade within the UK is important, but that must not be the limit of our ambition.
"We have a market seven times the size of the UK on our doorstep."
Scotland would switch to its own national currency if nationalists win the vote, Ms Sturgeon said, but said it would not be "responsible" to give a timetable.
"If you tie yourself into a timescale you end up doing it at a time that's not optimal," she stated.
The First Minister had earlier said the move to the new currency would be based on a set of requirements and criteria.
She claimed that rejoining the EU would not be a "particularly lengthy process", adding: "Nobody with any credibility seriously suggests that Scotland would not be welcomed back into the European Union.
"And while there would be a process of negotiation, most people who know what they're talking about on this issue are very clear that that would not be a particularly lengthy process."
Asked if the first years as an independent country would require tax rises, she said: "Most governments in developed countries borrow all the time for investment and also to cover gaps in between the revenues and expenditure."
Warning about the direction of the Tory government, Ms Sturgeon said: "It's now very clear that we face another round of austerity that will damage our public services, perhaps existentially... and shred the safety net we rely on as a civilised society"
But the First Minister's political rivals blasted the plans.
Daniel Johnson, Scottish Labour's finance spokesman, said that the "SNP need to drop the spin and come clean with people about the catastrophic reality of their economic plans".
"Despite wasting 15 years in government peddling the same old agenda, they still can't answer even the most basic questions," the MSP for Edinburgh Southern said.
"They are gambling people's livelihoods based on fantasy economics and wishful thinking."
