Nicola Sturgeon edges closer to referendum with blueprint for independence

The publication of a draft Referendum Bill is an essential step in the legislative process before it can be voted upon in the Holyrood chamber. 

A consultation on the bill will be launched by June 2017 at the latest.

It would be highly unusual for Ms Sturgeon to abandon the Bill following the consultation period. The SNP has only once dropped a Bill at draft stage in almost a decade in power. 

That was in 2010 when Alex Salmond, presiding over a minority government, was forced to abandon plans for a ballot on Scottish independence after failing to win sufficient cross-party support for the vote.

Yesterday, pro-union rivals at Holyrood accused the SNP of being blinkered by independence to the detriment of the day-to-day business of running the country. 

With raised levels of uncertainty amid the prospect of another referendum, it has been claimed Ms Sturgeon undermined her new £500 million loan guarantee plan that should encourage banks to lend more to the businesses.

Speaking about the Brexit vote in June, Ms Sturgeon said: “Sixty-two per cent of those who voted in Scotland, voted to remain.

“That’s why I am determined to pursue all options to protect our place in Europe.

“To ensure all options are open to us, this Programme for Government makes clear that we will consult on a draft Referendum Bill, so that it is ready for immediate introduction if we conclude that independence is the best or only way to protect Scotland’s interests.”

Any legally binding second independence referendum would require the consent of Westminster but SNP sources insisted that the draft bill would be legally competent. Powers to hold a referendum may have to be sought at a later date.

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, urged the First Minister to remove the “threat” of a second referendum and focus on the country’s needs. 

She said the legislation announced by Ms Sturgeon in what was her first Programme for Government since winning a personal mandate in May was “a warm-up act to nudge the independence caravan another few inches along the road”.

“I do not subscribe to the view that we are helpless to act in the face of Brexit – nor do I think that breaking up a union worth four times more to Scotland than the EU is going to help matters very much,” said Ms Davidson.

“I said two weeks ago I wanted a new type of Scottish Government and what I mean is one which no longer asks - how will this boost independence? But one that asks - how are we growing the country?”

The First Minister, speaking the day after the UK voted to quit the EU, revealed that legislation to hold a second referendum was being drawn up and predicted that a new vote was “highly likely”. 

While she had pledged to play a full role in negotiations around the UK’s post-Brexit deal with Europe, she has also repeatedly insisted that moving for independence remains “on the table”. 

She has shown little sign of dampening her rhetoric despite recent polls suggesting that a majority of Scots would currently prefer to stay in the UK rather than quit the union to remain in the EU.

Having cited Scotland being dragged out of the EU against the wishes of its voters as a trigger for a second referendum in the SNP manifesto, Ms Sturgeon would be likely to face difficult questions from sections of her party is she fails to follow through on calling a new referendum. 

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale called on the SNP to focus on jobs, public services and the economy over the next five years, and was clear that she would oppose another independence vote. 

However, the presence of six Green MSPs means there is a pro-independence majority at Holyrood.

Ms Dugdale added: “Labour will continue to make the argument that we have since the EU referendum: That we are better maintaining our relationship with the EU and continuing as part of the United Kingdom. That’s the will of the people of Scotland on both issues and it is a will my party shares.”