SCOTTISH voters overwhelmingly believe it should be the government in Edinburgh rather than Downing Street who decide if there is to be a second referendum on Scottish independence.

In the latest Panelbase poll for Wings Over Scotland, 51 per cent of Scottish voters say the decision about a new referendum on independence should be made north of the border.

And even 24 per cent of No voters want the choice made by the Scottish government.

But 38 per cent of voters say the choice should be in the hands of the UK government.

Just 11 per cent of Tory voters want the decision resting with Nicola Sturgeon though, with 79 saying it should very much be Theresa May’s decision.

Labour, however, are split evenly with 42 per cent for the devolved administration making the decision and 44 per cent against.

The SNP’s supporters are, unsurprisingly, 91 per cent behind the Scottish Government having the power to make the call.

It seems likely the issue of a second independence referendum will dominate Scottish politics in 2018 as much as it did in 2017.

At the end of last year, the First Minister told senior members of her party to expect the publication of a document setting out the SNP’s new economic thinking which will be used to make the case for Scottish independence.

The First Minister told up to 300 members of the SNP’s national council meeting in Perth the party’s Growth Commission report would be unveiled in 2018.

“She said it would be published early in the new year and that it would be a catalyst for relaunching the arguments for independence,” one senior party member who was present told The National.

“Her comments were warmly received. I can’t recall her exact words, but the thrust of it was was that the publication of the report would provide an opportunity to make the case again for independence. She didn’t mention a date or give a timetable, but my impression was [the document] would be out within the first six weeks of next year.”

After June’s snap General Election, in which the SNP lost 21 MPs, the SNP leader said she would “reset” her timetable for a second referendum on independence, after initially calling for a new vote to be held between the autumn of 2018 and the spring of 2019.

She told MSPs before the summer recess she would not “immediately” seek to introduce legislation for a referendum but also indicated to journalists that a vote by 2021 was still “likely”.

The same poll for Wings Over Scotland showed that 49 per cent of Scottish voters would back an independent Scotland in the EU.