SNP members will gather in Glasgow today for the party’s autumn conference.
Thousands of people are expected to attend the three-day event, which includes a keynote address by Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday.
It follows what is thought to have been the biggest ever march in support of Scottish independence in Edinburgh on Saturday.
The rally, organised by All Under One Banner, was attended by tens of thousands of people.
![All Under One Banner march](http://image.assets.pressassociation.io/v2/image/production/674b894a1eb83bb27e46e6c34fc74211Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaCwxNTM4OTQ3NDg0/2.38977818.jpg?w=640)
The First Minister has come under increasing pressure to update supporters on her plans for a second referendum on leaving the UK.
She is waiting until the terms of a deal for leaving the EU become clearer, but she also faces demands to back a “people’s vote” on such a deal to prevent a so-called hard Brexit.
The issues are expected to feature prominently, despite no formal debate on Brexit or independence due to take place on the conference floor.
Speaking ahead of the event, Deputy First Minister John Swinney instead sought to highlight ministers’ “world-leading examples of progressive policies”, including action on climate change, measures to tackle alcohol misuse, and ministers’ flagship commitment on childcare.
“Our record in Government is one of delivering for the people of Scotland: creating a fairer, more prosperous country with strength in our public services and fairness at the heart of what we do,” he said.
His comments follow criticism from the SNP’s opponents of its record in government, with Ms Sturgeon’s recent legislative programme labelled as “light on substance”.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: “Despite all the rhetoric, the fact is that this conference will be dominated by all the things the SNP leadership don’t want to talk about.
“The omissions of indyref2 and the growth commission show just how divided the membership is.”
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said the growth commission had “attempt to reboot the failed economic case for independence” and failed.
- Paul Hutcheon: Nicola Sturgeon is a leader in need of a vision
Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said a new poll suggested the majority of SNP members back a new public vote on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.
YouGov polling commissioned by the People’s Vote campaign and carried out last week found 89% of 665 members back such a vote, while 11% were opposed, he said.
“Nicola Sturgeon and her ministers have exhausted their excuse selection. Now that it’s clear the vast majority of SNP members want to have the final say on Brexit they can’t justify sitting on the fence any longer,” Mr Rennie said.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here