NICOLA Sturgeon has downplayed the prospect of a second independence referendum in the near future, saying Scots don’t have the facts to make an “informed decision”.
The First Minister also said she had yet to make up her own mind about a fresh vote.
In an interview on American TV, she said she would wait for a Brexit conclusion, and only then take a decision “based on a calm consideration of what's in Scotland's best interests”.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon in US: It's clearer Scotland's national interests are not served by Westminster
Hinting at a long process, she told PBS NewsHour that voters had a right to “as much information as possible” about an independent Scotland’s relationship with the UK and EU.
She did not want an “uninformed decision about a big change”, as with Brexit.
The cautious language will disappoint the gung-ho elements of the Yes movement, including some past and present SNP MPs, who have been agitating for a referendum this year.
Ms Sturgeon has been urged to capitalise on the "chaos" at Westminster.
Her preference for "calm consideration" reflects the complications of Brexit, which could change Scotland’s options on the economy and the currency.
Theresa May also continues to withhold referendum powers from Holyrood, making it unlikely that a referendum can be held before the next Holyrood election in 2021.
Ms Sturgeon is in the US and Canada this week to promote Scottish interests.
In a speech to the Georgetown Institute on Monday, she repeated her commitment to give an update on the timing of another independence referendum in a “few weeks”.
But in her PBS interview, the First Minister suggested this may not be the call to arms many of her supporters would like.
She said the Brexit vote and the way Scotland had been ignored by London in the aftermath showed “circumstances have changed materially since 2014”, the trigger set down in the SNP manifesto of 2016 for Holyrood having the right to call another referendum.
She said: “When the time is right for Scotland to look again at the question of independence, I think, would be the right thing to allow it to do.”
But asked when she thought the time would be right, she replied: “Well, I think we have to allow the [Brexit] process that is currently underway to reach some conclusion. What that conclusion will be remains to be seen.
“And then take a decision based on a calm consideration of what's in Scotland's best interests. And that's what I would do.
“So I'm not going to say right now what I think the best timing would be.”
Pressed on why she didn't go ahead with a referendum given her complaints about Scotland being ignored during Brexit, Ms Sturgeon said voters didn’t have enough facts to decide.
She said: “Clearly, if people in Scotland are being asked, given the opportunity to look again at the independence question, they have a right to have as much information as possible about what - if Scotland chooses to be independent - what our relationships will be with the rest of the UK and with Europe.
“And some of the answers to those questions inevitably depend on the Brexit outcome to some extent. And, therefore, I think it's in the interest of allowing an informed decision to be taken about independence that we allow some of that clarity to emerge.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon to use US speech to outline possible timing of indyref2
“Brexit is a good example of what happens when people take, in some respects, an uninformed decision about a big change. And when people, as I believe they will in due course, opt for Scotland to be an independent country, that should be on the basis of a genuinely informed decision about all of the implications and consequences.”
Ms Sturgeon first promised a “precise timescale” on another vote in June 2017, after SNP losses in the general election derailed her plan for a Brexit-related referendum.
The update was due in October but has been repeatedly put off because of the rolling confusion and delays over Brexit at Westminster.
The hold-ups on Indyref have been criticised by SNP MP Angus Brendan MacNeil, and former FM Alex Salmond has questioned if the “caledonian lifeboat” will ever launch.
The SNP is currently refreshing its economic case for independence through Andrew Wilson’s Growth Commission, but Brexit would add a new layer of complications.
For instance, in 2014, the SNP argued an independent Scotland could continue to use the pound as part of a currency union with the rest of the UK.
However if the UK were outside the EU, it is highly unlikely that Brussels would allow an independent Scotland to join the EU while also using the currency of a non-EU state.
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