Nicola Sturgeon will today try to mobilise the general public in her battle to wring a second independence referendum out of Boris Johnson.
The First Minister will “urge people in Scotland to rally round the case for Scotland’s right to choose” as she publishes a paper setting out the “democratic case” for Indyref2.
Ms Sturgeon is later expected to request the power for Holyrood to hold the referendum immune from legal challenge, something Mr Johnson has already said he will swiftly refuse.
Ms Sturgeon has stepped up her demands for Indyref2 since the SNP’s emphatic win in the General Election last week, when it gained 12 seats to return 47 of the 59 MPs in Scotland.
The First Minister will this morning publish a Government paper entitled Scotland’s Right to Choose, setting out her case for transferring referendum powers from Westminster to Holyrood using a so-called Section 30 order.
It will argue she has an irrefutable mandate to re-run the vote she lost in 2014; Mr Johnson says he has a mandate of his own to preserve the Union and the No vote of five years ago still stands.
Earlier this week, Ms Sturgeon urged other parties and civic Scotland to come together to press for a new referendum.
Today, she will appeal directly to the public, suggesting the campaign for hearts and minds may be heading towards a new phase of street protests.
The opposition parties said she was trying to distract attention from a mounting list of failures in public services after almost 13 years of SNP government.
Ms Sturgeon, who wants to run Indyref2 in late 2020, said: “There is a clear mandate for this nation to have the power to decide its own future. The result of last week’s General Election makes that mandate unarguable.”
She said the Government would now “update the detailed and substantive case for independence”, a reference to a new White Paper reflecting the SNP’s changed position on a Scottish currency, depleted oil revenues and the impact of Brexit on trade and customs.
She went on: “Whatever people’s views on the issue of independence itself, there is a wide and growing consensus that Scotland must be able to choose its own future. Now the election is over, and the result so overwhelmingly clear, I believe that consensus is growing by the day.
“The demand for this country to have the right to determine its own path comes not just from me as First Minister – it flows from the people of Scotland and the verdict they delivered last week.
“The Scottish Government believes that right should be exercised free from the threat of legal challenge. We understand that a referendum must be accepted as legitimate, here in Scotland and the UK, as well as in the EU and the wider international community.
“There is no doubt whatsoever there has been a material change in circumstances since 2014.
“Today I urge people in Scotland to rally round the case for Scotland’s right to choose – our right to self-determination.
“It is not the time for Scotland to give up on reasoned and democratic argument – but to pursue it ever more confidently.”
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MSPs will also pass the Referendums (Scotland) Bill today, the legislation paving the way for Indyref2, provided Ms Sturgeon can get a Section 30 order.
The vote is a dilemma for Labour MSPs Monica Lennon and Neil Findlay, who said after the election result that the future of Scotland should be decided by Scots, not Westminster.
Labour has ordered MSPs to oppose the Bill, meaning Ms Lennon could lose her role as the party’s health spokesperson if she backs it.
Mr Findlay has more latitude as he has no frontbench position and is stepping down as an MSP at the 2021 election.
Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said: “How typical of this abysmal SNP Government that after presiding over the Sick Kids hospital fiasco, the scandal at Glasgow’s superhospital, the farce of the CalMac ferries delay and the ScotRail shambles, Nicola Sturgeon should seek to divert attention away from her failures with a divisive, grievance-laden attempt to drag us back to another independence referendum.
“Nicola Sturgeon has failed as First Minister and is using constitutional division to cover up for the fact. She must halt her march to indyref2 now and - along with the rest of the UK - let Scotland move on.”
Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, added: “The General Election result did not provide Nicola Sturgeon with a mandate for a divisive and unwanted second independence referendum.
“The majority of people in Scotland voted last week for parties that want Scotland to remain in the UK, and the First Minister herself has admitted that many who did vote for the SNP did so to stop Brexit or Boris - not for another Scexit referendum.
“Scotland’s future is already in Scotland’s hands, and the people of Scotland have made it clear they do not support a divisive second independence referendum next year.”
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