Scotland's First Minister has detailed how she plans to deliver a second independence referendum in Scotland and named a date for the vote. In 2014, 55.3% of people voted against independence in the first referendum.
The 2014 referendum went ahead after the UK government agreed to a section 30 order, allowing Holyrood to pass laws in areas normally reserved to Westminster. UK minsters have said they would consider any request for a section 30 order but they have indicated they would be unlikely to grant the request.
Ms Sturgeon said she plans to hold a lawful vote can be held in October 2023, with or without the formal consent of UK Government. She says in the absence of a Section 30 order she is determined to "secure a process" that allows people a vote. "
An unlawful referendum would not be deliverable," she said saying that there has to be a lawful referendum and that has to be determined as a "matter of fact, not just opinion".
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The Scottish Government will today publish the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill, she said. The referendum will be "consultative not as self executing" and a majority yes vote would not immediately lead to independence, and for that to happen it would need UK and Scottish legislation. It would ask "Should Scotland be an independent country" and would be held on October 19, 2023.
Earlier this month, she published the first in a series of papers earlier this month aimed at making a fresh case for independence and says she has a democratic mandate for a referendum as independence-supporting parties - the SNP and the Scottish Greens - have a majority at Holyrood.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has said he does not consider the pro-independence majority at Holyrood a mandate because "less than a third of the electorate" voted for the SNP.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon said that "last May, the people of Scotland said yes to an independence referendum. The democratic decision was clear".
She said Scotland had "paid the price" for not being independent "over generations". "The Conservatives have just 6 MPs in Scotland, barely 10% of Scottish representation and yet they have ripped us out of the EU against our will, created the worst cost of living crisis in the G7 and saddled us with the second lowest growth in the G20".
She said her government will do what it can to mitigate the damage but "our country deserves better". "We lack the full range of levers to shape our economy and grow our country's wealth, we are powerless to stop our budget being cut."
"Independence is about equipping ourselves to navigate the future, guided by our own values, aspirations and interests," she said. But she added it will take more than the Conservatives losing the next election to help her country. She said "independence won't always be easier but it will give us the opportunity to chart our own course".
Ms Sturgeon said that the UK and Scottish Governments should be sitting together to set a Section 30 order to "allow the Scottish people to decide". She said she will write to the Prime Minister today to say she is "ready and willing to negotiate the terms of a Section 30 order".
There was applause from the chamber as she said "What I will never do is allow Scottish democracy to be a prisoner of Boris Johnson or any Prime Minister".
Ms Sturgeon said that paperwork will be filed with the Supreme Court today. She said there is already an argument about whether the Scottish Parliament has the power to pass a Bill if there is no Section 30 order. She said to avoid any element of doubt as to the lawfulness needs to be addressed now.
"We know that for as long as there is no judicial determination, opinions will differ and doubt will be cast on the lawful basis for the referendum". She said if the Scottish Government legislated without a Section 30 order it would end up in court so "some weeks ago" she asked the Lord Advocate to consider a power she had to refer this question to the Supreme Court. She has decided that is possible and "as I speak" paperwork is being filed.
"If it does transpire that there is no lawful way for this parliament to give the people of Scotland a choice of independence in a referendum, and if the UK Government continues to deny a Section 30 order, my party will fight the next UK General Election on the single question 'Should Scotland be an independent country'."
She ended her statement, which was frequently interrupted by applause, saying: "Nothing in life is guaranteed, but with hard work and the independence to chart our own course, Scotland will prosper. The people of Scotland have told us all in this chamber they want the right to decide, today we have set out the path to deliver it".
Speaking after her speech, Conservative leader Douglas Ross MSP said it would be another "hugely divisive" referendum and the priority should be helping families with the cost of living crisis.
Speaking in the Senedd on Tuesday, Mark Drakeford said that he believed that "if the people of any constituent part of the United Kingdom vote for a referendum on their future, then they should be allowed to hold that referendum. I think that would be the case in Wales as well. If a party that stands for that wins a majority of votes in Wales, then of course that referendum should happen".
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