THE Scottish Government are set to unveil new indyref2 legislation in parliament.
In an article in The National today, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said this Framework Bill would be “a necessary part of the preparations we need to make to offer people in Scotland the choice of independence in a referendum within this parliamentary term”.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon: Scotland must be able to choose independence
The legislation will set out how the referendum will work, although it will require a Section 30 order from Westminster to give it legal effect.
As she saw off her party’s three MEPs heading to Brussels, Sturgeon yesterday said getting that order was “a legitimate, important part of the jigsaw”.
“This is about choice, it’s about the people of Scotland being in charge of the direction we take as a country,” she said.
The First Minister continued: “Do we want to be forced out of the EU against our will? Do we want to face the prospect of a Boris Johnson or Dominic Raab government propped up by Nigel Farage?”
“We will do all of the work, but no deal would be catastrophic, and we should all be focusing on stopping that happening.”
Opposition parties accused Sturgeon of using the EU election result as a mandate, despite the First Minister asking people to vote SNP to send an anti-Brexit message “whether you are for or against independence”.
Sturgeon said the huge support for her party was “a rejection of Brexit”.
“But as I set out way before this campaign even started – I set it out in Holyrood in April – Scotland also needs to have a choice,” she added.
“And if the European election has done anything, it has illustrated yet again that Scotland and the rest of the UK are on different political paths.”
On Monday, Sturgeon suggested a new Scottish independence referendum could be held in the second half of next year.
The First Minister made the comments during a visit to Dublin, where she said the “latter half” of 2020 would be the “right time” for a new poll.
Asked how she would be able to win a Section 30 order from the UK Government, given that whoever replaces Theresa May as Tory leader will likely say no, Sturgeon said: “We’ll do what we can to put the rules in place and then at a later stage … we’ll deal with that issue.
“But I’m not going to spend a lot of time and energy speculating right now about what a future leader or a future prime minister might or might not do, when we don’t even know who these people are.”
Pressed on the issue, she added: “We haven’t got it [the Bill] through Parliament yet.
“We’ve got to do that over the next few months. In 2014 we got the Section 30 and then we did that bit. We’re doing it the other way round.
“This is a necessary part of the process. It’s a part of the process we can get on and do right now while the Tories get deeper and deeper into the mire they’re in.
“This is a legitimate, important part of the jigsaw, but we’ll get on to that in good time.”
READ MORE: Kevin McKenna: Scottish Labour need a new strategy on independence
Brexit Secretary Michael Russell, tabling the framework legislation today, will set out details of the Scottish Government’s plan for a Citizens’ Assembly initiative.
Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie said the SNP were misusing their voters: “People who backed the SNP to stop Brexit last week after Nicola Sturgeon promised the election was not about independence will feel let down. The SNP have misused their support to advance independence.
“Nicola Sturgeon wants to pile the chaos of independence on top of the chaos of Brexit.”
SNP MP Angus MacNeil said the referendum may need to be sooner.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “If Tories talk of being a no-deal party before October 31 (or wanting CU&SM borders with the EU like Canada) then Scotland must move to #indyref2 to head off the certain economic damage caused by UK.”
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