INDEPENDENCE would not be the end of Holyrood’s “democratic journey”, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The First Minister said if Scotland left the UK, its Parliament could “act as an exemplar to the rest of the world” on issues such as climate change.

She also said there was a strong parallel between the country’s frustrations over Brexit and the conditions which gave rise to the Scottish Parliament 20 years ago, suggesting voters are ready for another step change on the constitution.

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Ms Sturgeon makes her comments in an article for The Herald’s coverage marking the devolution anniversary.

She said: “I believe our Parliament should be an independent one, but I do not believe that should or would be the end of its democratic journey.

“Already we can see how, in areas like tackling climate change, the Scottish Parliament can act as an exemplar to the rest of the world.”

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She said voters in the 1980s and 1990s felt “the status quo was not an option” because a “profound democratic deficit” had to be addressed by a Scottish Parliament.

She said: “Twenty years on, there is again a growing consensus that the current situation cannot endure. Even ardent unionist voices would agree the current status quo is not an option.”