National readers give their verdict on Nicola Sturgeon's speech

More importantly, we don’t really need an independence referendum this year or any year. Next May we have to re-elect a Scottish Government. We can empower that government to take full self-governing powers and dump the reserved powers that hold us back. That vote will give us the legal basis to negotiate different arrangements with rUK and have a referendum on re-joining the EU as an independent country.
Robert Fraser

VERY disappointed, waiting a long time for the final go-ahead then nothing. Tories no doubt killing themselves laughing at what is being proposed today. SNP must be brave and go for it NOW.
Gordon Hunter

A BIT tame we need a bit of a spark.
Gordon Brown

RUBBISH. I’m mortified.
Kate Duncan

TALKING to the Electoral Commission, hearing from the National Assembly, boosting the spend on indy campaigning, building cross-party support for self-determination – all intelligently placed building-blocks.

Timing is all – curbing impatience is difficult – but we’ve never been closer and although I don’t agree with all SNP policy, I believe and trust that this is the right and legal process that will win over the undecided.
Lindsey Spowage

DISAPPOINTED that there isn’t a quicker legal way forward.

However, I accept that Nicola knows what is best and I will stay resolute that we will get there. Not sure if I got the right end of the stick with some form of “pre-vote”. I would have thought we have had that with successive elections victories on an independence platform.
Eric Martindale

I AM very disappointed with the speech. I believe it has set the movement back years and has opened the door for Westminster to dissolve Holyrood but not before they totally humiliate Scotland as a whole.
Edward Lee

HER honesty shines through like a beacon, not something that politicians are famed for. Everytime she speaks I feel more and more pro-indy.

Iain Simpson I JUST wanna be left alone for a while... Ta...
Stan Moore

EXCELLENT. Spot on!
D Allan

IT’S a disappointing day, but realistically it was always going to be thus. Be annoyed but not disheartened.

I guess they do know more than us, but feel they should have been more upfront before now. Everyone else has known it was so. And they should have been further ahead in the prepping, eg white paper, borders, currency but maybe a lot of that depends on the Brexit deal.

It’s been exhausting running a six-year campaign, and keeping people motivated. I would like to have seen more acknowledgement of that. The Yes movement has kept the lights on.
Carole Inglis

NICOLA is absolutely correct. It would be counterproductive to have a referendum unless we win it.

I have been a member of the SNP for 47 years and can wait just a little longer to be sure we do win the next referendum.
Margaret Pollock

A BIT disappointed we don’t have a date, but fully understand why NS is playing it this way.

She has been correct at every step and as this will probably be the last time we get a referendum for a very long time, has to ensure that we have a major majority for Yes, so the outcome cannot be disputed or tampered with using the postal voting system.

By pre-empting what the Unionist arguments are going to be and answering them fully, with the back up of a major advertising campaign, we can ensure our arguments and voice is heard – ESPECIALLY given the disinformation and fear factor peddled by the MSM that plagued the first indyref.
Ann Armstrong

SENSIBLE and realistic.
James Mackenzie

DEFLATED!
John Christie Anderson

I WAS very disappointed as I didn’t hear anything new. Perhaps it would have been better to say nothing.
Patsy Millar

ABSOLUTELY fuming. How many mandates is she waiting on?
Derek Ormsby

NOTHING New!
David Temple

STURGEON doesn’t want to end up with a Catalonia-style ugly mess. She wants the world, the EU and US in particular, to immediately and unquestionably accept Scotland’s independence. She also wants people to see the step to independence as providing a safe and secure future for them and their families.

These are the real problems she believes her strategy must address.

I agree with her that the buffoonery of continued Westminster intransigence is unsustainable and, when history is written, will be but a footnote in Scotland’s story.
John McDonald

POSTERITY will refer to it as her “Rivers of Pish” speech.
Alasdair Riddock

NICOLA and her inner circle have misjudged this call. No-one has ever gained their independence by playing by the rules as interpreted by their rulers. Delay will only let Westminster double down on chaining Scotland to “the country” and turning us into a region by law rather than by attitude and convention.

Time to be brave and lead rather than prevaricate further. Four mandates are more than ample. Holyrood must take sovereignty in 2020. A reprise of the Declaration of Arbroath is both necessary and apposite.
Rob Thompson

BIG speech? More of the same cap-in-hand, let’s-wait-and-see time-wasting.

Westminster will NEVER allow Scotland another shot at independence – the last result was far too close for comfort. Asking for permission is a non-starter.

When Nicola Sturgeon says that a consultative referendum instigated by Holyrood hasn’t been tested in the courts we should all be asking, “Why?”

Where is the groundwork for indyref2? What on earth have the SNP been up to since 2014 apart from wasting opportunities and flushing mandates down the toilet?

Although they’ll continue to get my vote until a more viable political party comes to the fore, I’m resigning my SNP membership as of now.
Gerry Clark

UNFORTUNATELY she bottled it again. Try to talk No voters over ... been going on for a few years.

I’m disappointed, may withdraw my financial support and membership from the SNP
Jim McDonald

COUNTRIES who achieve independence do not, as far as I understand, generally wait for “Section 30 Orders”.

The notion that some ill-informed buffoon can simply say “no” and that is the end of it, is an affront to democracy. Nicola Sturgeon’s caution is understandable, and I will reserve judgement on her approach as we see what the next few months bring, but we need this to firm up into a much more dynamic strategy fairly soon.
Eric Falconer

CANNY Nicola. Sell the case for independence first. Then – when 55+% support independence – a referendum becomes inevitable.

Ensure the nation is with you on this journey.
Iain Oates

DISAPPOINTED, but expected. SNP are now focusing on 2021 elections.
Kenneth Sutherland

DISAPPOINTED! Feel let down.
May Collins

I FEEL almost as bad as I did on September 19, 2014.
Ronnie McNeill

WE should be prepared to call a Scottish General Election even before 2021 which should be fought on the single issue manifesto of Scotland having the unchallenged right to democratically determine our own future. I would be confident we could achieve in excess of 60% support for any such campaign.

I do not think what Nicola said is enough. I think we need to be more energetic and wide-ranging in our approach. My commitment to independence remains undimmed but I do think we could do much more at this time.
Iain Lawson

IT was a great rallying speech.
Jim McLean

VERY measured and considered speech. Most reliable and consistent politician in all of these islands.
Helen Robertson

REALLY pleased. Gives us the opportunity to build a sure foundation as we move to the referendum. It allows us to bring more on board and prove to the world that we have the sovereign right of the Scottish people behind us. The speech gave a very positive message to new Scots and to the EU.

I know some may be impatient but we need to ensure the time is right and we have our case well understood by the undecided and those who voted No in 2014.
Catriona Chambers

IT is frustrating but I agree with the FM we need to do it legally – we mustn’t give them the slightest chance of it going to court and losing
Derek Aitken

THE independence movement is lucky to have such a first-rate political leader as Nicola Sturgeon. It is beginning to become clearer by the day that her analytical abilities and clear strategies, as the latest poll shows, are beginning to gather the support necessary to win the next referendum. While I can understand the frustrations of those in the movement who seek instant action, in the face of Tory intransigence, I hope they will demonstrate the patience needed to achieve our goal legally and beyond dispute. Our FM deserves our full support in guiding us there.
George Wylie

A BIT disappointed, after all the fanfare nothing new. Altogether a bit of a damp squib. I understand her reasoning, but she should have thrown a bone to the Yes faithful at least a show of appreciation by the SNP.
Danny Leslie

I AM happy that Nicola is charting our way forward by giving us the answers to the questions that are important to let everyone feel secure in the future. She is not rushing headlong into a campaign before we know what lies ahead of us in terms of Brexit or second guessing any outcome. We are lucky because we have many legally trained people, including Nicola, in our party who will guide us to success.
Jenny McDonald

ABYSMAL. She needs to go and we need a strong, pro-independence candidate to actually fight and take this cause forward. She has missed far, far too many golden opportunities. Sturgeon must go.
Deb Brown

NICOLA is right to wait. A lot more work needs to be done to convince the undecided.

I want to see a concerted effort by all groups supporting independence to promote the vision of the healthier, wealthier, prospering Scotland we crave.

To that end I commend the excellent easy read Scotland the Brief. Get a copy and rest easy in the knowledge that the more people who get answers to the questions that trouble them the more inevitable independence becomes!

Gordon Macintyre-Kemp's Scotland The Brief
Fiona Anderson

MAGNIFICENT by Nicola. The only believable politician in the UK.

Just make sure we go for independence this year.

Good luck to us all.
Robert Breslin

A COURT battle is a very last resort. If lost, it would give the Unionist cause a considerable boost. Whatever we do, I agree it must be legally enshrined in such a way that not just Westminster but also the EU are obliged to honour it. The cause will be helped if it is less closely linked to the SNP itself. The party is not the sole guardian of independence and must not be seen as such. I write as a member, but we need to get outside ourselves and be prepared to allow others to lead.
John Purser

NICOLA Sturgeon’s words cut through. The EU has its faults but as a means of binding together in peace and co-operation a continent of nations with a long history of war and enmity, it is a massive achievement. Scotland is a nation and the national government has a mandate to keep Scotland in the EU. By ignoring the wishes of the majority of people living in Scotland and consistently refusing to have a meaningful conversation with the Scottish Government and Parliament about the future of the country, Westminster is demonstrating a mindset that sees Scotland not as a nation but as either a colony or as a region of England, definitely not as a union of equals.
Bob Black

SENSIBLE, level headed, plain speaking. So different from the empty words and soundbites of the Westminster government. A rallying call to the troops to maintain our steadfastness our inexorable drive towards being an independent country. A call to have faith and for us continue to persuade the undecided, to answer their doubts and to absolutely refrain from the sort of nasty tactics used by others. May not be the dash that many frustrated independence supporters would like but we MUST make this one stick, it MUST be unarguable at the end of the day.

I’m over 70 and every passing year without independence means less chance I may see it come to full fruition so if I can bide my soul in patience in confidence our Nicola is guiding us down the right path then please do the same. Keep the faith!
Chris Airey

EVERYTHING she said could’ve been sent in an email last year. And the sneaky get out politician clause of “it’s my preference” and doesn’t want to go to court shows to me that despite her words she isn’t that bothered about indyref2 in 2020. A patronising speech full of platitudes and blethers. Doesn’t take us one bit nearer independence
Billy Grier

GLAD about Constitutional Convention, glad about following legal pathways, glad about more money for campaigning and materials. Hoping the wider YES movement will be consulted and supported.
Jean Anderson Hall

EVEN the Grand Old Duke of York would have been ashamed to make that speech.
Andrew M Fraser