Nicola Sturgeon has fired the starting pistol to start the race towards a second independence referendum.

With the polls narrowing, and some putting the yes side ahead, the First Minister announced she will bring forward a Bill aimed at holding a second vote.

The issue will dominate next May's Holyrood election, with the SNP riding high in the opinion polls.

But opponents have accused her of putting the country's constitutional future before everything else and have demanded she concentrates on dealing with the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

With the issue set to dominate the political arena for the next 9 months, Scotland's political leaders today have their say on it as they each write in today's Herald on Sunday outlining the case for and against in the latest battle for Scotland's future...

By Nicola Sturgeon

First Minister and Leader of the SNP

Independence is the normal form of governance for most nations in the world. Most of them take it, and the ability it affords them to take decisions in their own national interest, for granted.

Being independent does not magically solve every problem a country faces, but it does allow the opportunity to deal with those problems in a way best suited to your needs. That is the essence of self-government – but Scotland does not yet have the ability to exercise those independent choices.

However, it would seem that independence is now becoming the settled will of a majority of people across Scotland. And the reasons for that are not hard to discern.

We have a Westminster government which pays constant lip service to the notion of equal partnership – but which in almost every action it takes completely demolishes that concept.

A true union of equals would not have imposed Brexit upon Scotland against the overwhelming majority of Scottish voters.

A genuine partnership would not then have then ignored the efforts of the Scottish Government to effect compromise to soften the blow of leaving the world’s biggest single market.

The result of that is that we now face the hardest of Brexits, exiting the transition period at the end of this year with either no trade deal at all, or instead what is likely to be a very bad deal – either of which threaten to be disastrous for Scotland.

And a Westminster government which cared in any meaningful way about the union it professes to cherish would not engage, as it currently is, in a blatant power grab which threatens to ride roughshod over devolved powers – something that has been attacked by interest groups across Scotland, including leading voices from our business and farming sectors.

None of this would be happening were we independent.

To compound things, the Tories are committed to scrapping furlough next month instead of following the lead of other European countries who have announced lengthy extensions to their job retention schemes in the face of the pandemic.

Again, if Scotland were already independent, with the full economic powers independent countries take for granted, we wouldn’t have to ask the UK Government to extend furlough to protect thousands of Scottish jobs – we could just do it ourselves.

Far from making the case for the union, the issue of furlough strengthens the case for Scotland acquiring the full borrowing and other financial tools of an independent country.

And it seems that people increasingly agree that Scotland needs those powers. Opinion polls show that, not only do a majority now believe Scotland should be independent, but that Scotland needs independence for our economic prospects to improve.

The Scottish Government will publish a draft referendum bill, setting out the proposed terms of an independence referendum, including the question, subject to testing by the Electoral Commission, and the proposed timescale for the vote.

And if a majority of MSPs elected to Holyrood next year back a referendum, no UK Government has the right to block the will of the people.

For the Tories, simply saying “no” in a bid to stick roadblocks in the way of democracy isn’t even the semblance of a long-term strategy – and increasingly it seems that is being acknowledged within Westminster and Whitehall.

Trying to hold back the tide of popular opinion in Scotland didn’t work for the Tories when they argued against devolution in the 1990s – and it won’t work now.

Scotland must, and will, have the right to determine its own future, and when that happens I firmly believe the people will choose independence.

READ MORE: Opinion: Iain Macwhirter: The real reason Sturgeon's independence referendum plans fell flat? No one thinks she's serious

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By Douglas Ross

Leader of the Scottish Conservatives

AS leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party, nobody will be surprised to hear me say that I believe that there should not be another referendum on independence.

We were told the 2014 vote was a ‘once in a generation’ referendum. I think the democratic decision we took should be respected, as all sides said they would at the time. Scotland’s best interests are served by remaining part of the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom is better for Scotland’s involvement. I will stand up against any attempt to break the bonds that have stood the test of time in these islands.

As I say, no surprise there.

But I also happen to believe that even those people who do believe in independence shouldn’t be pressing for a second referendum as things stand – not because of my interests, but because of everyone's, including theirs.

Without wanting to state the obvious, we are in the middle of a global pandemic. This is the biggest challenge to our way of life since the Second World War and we have literally no idea how far it is going to run. I ask in all sincerity: is this the right time to divert any energy into building a case for separation? Why would you want to take Scottish public servants off the plan to slow the diseases’ spread, and instead get them to focus on the obscure details of new currency arrangements for Scotland? How would any of that help?

Nicola Sturgeon was entirely right earlier this summer when she argued that this was no time to be diverted into constitutional arguments. She’s also right when she says, now, that the crisis may have a long time to run. But if both those comments still stand – and they do – how can she push ahead with a Referendum Bill right now? Given the panoply of urgent issues that the government faces due to Covid – from the NHS, to the care sector, to the economy, to education – focusing on separating Scotland from the rest of the UK is clearly not the best use of government time.

It seems Nicola Sturgeon wants to have it both ways. She is fully aware that most Scots don’t want a second referendum any time soon. She knows they want her to keep her focus on the recovery. But she also knows she must appease her party activists who want a second referendum now. Her calculation, I suspect, is that nobody will notice the conflict between the national interest and her party’s interests.

This kind of politicking isn't worthy of the times we face - and nor does it match the First Minister's own rhetoric. It's her who has said, repeatedly, that people must put politics to one side. It appears that doesn’t apply to the SNP. It is a sad indictment of the party's culture that, even when faced with a crisis of this scale, they simply can't wait to divide the country.

That is why the Scottish Conservatives will demand that the SNP Government focus all of its efforts and resources on managing this pandemic and rebuilding Scotland stronger after it. There can be no distractions from those essential tasks. We must all come together to deal with the crisis that we face today.

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By Richard Leonard

Leader of Scottish Labour

The public health emergency has stripped off the veneer of Scottish society. Underneath, we see a fragile economy, a broken social care system and public services rundown for a decade now under intense pressure.

In the coming weeks, as the furlough scheme ends, Scotland will be swept by a tidal wave of unemployment. Already the number of people applying for the Dickensian and punitive Universal Credit system has rocketed.

Now more than ever we need a unity of purpose and a determination to meet these unprecedented challenges with hitherto unprecedented solutions. The scale of the crisis demands we rethink our horizons.

For over half a decade, Scotland has been stuck in a myopic groundhog day in which constitutional politics. Yes or no, Scotland or Britain – these simplistic dichotomies have permeated every facet of political culture.

With a Prime Minister so utterly incompetent as Boris Johnson, it is little surprise that Nicola Sturgeon’s approval ratings have soared. Despite this, Sturgeon and Johnson were joined at the hip at the outset of this pandemic and the Scottish Government dutifully followed Westminster’s lead in delaying the lockdown and emptying patients into care homes.

With Scotland now deep in economic crisis it is emotionally understandable but entirely wrongheaded to strike the drum for another independence referendum.

What we need is a radical programme of action to tackle the endemic inequalities in our society, combined with a willingness of the UK and Scottish Governments to co-operate in the interests of the people of this island. We must bring power closer to the people – not simply transfer it from one set of politicians to another.

Setting out my vision for a Green New Deal for Scotland last month, I argued that it is in the UK’s best interests to unleash the monetary fire power that Scotland needs to promote growth after Covid-19. THE OBR reported in July that “one silver lining to the current fiscal cloud is that it remains relatively cheap for the government to borrow – and indeed it has become more so.”

In contrast, Professor Ronald MacDonald of Glasgow University said just this week that a “newly minted independent Scotland without the long history of credibility that the Bank of England and Treasury have would have to pay a premium on its borrowing over UK rates”.

And establishing a separate currency would mean stacking up reserves of around £100 billion – starving our economy and public services of the cash they need. The people of Scotland want our NHS, schools and social security network strengthened, not sacrificed on the altar of Scottish Nationalism.

In the coming weeks, the Tories will continue to wave the Union flag and tell us that all is merry in a Boris Johnson’s Britain. The SNP will continue to promise the earth in a separate Scotland, while refusing to come clean about the harsh cuts that will result from their economic blueprint. It is the duty of Scottish Labour to set out the better alternative to both of these options deploying the powers of the Scottish Parliament with a radical vision for a better Scotland in a reformed Britain.

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by Willie Rennie

Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats

The human cost of the coronavirus has been heart-breaking and the financial cost has been eye watering.

Our country hasn’t been touched by a health crisis like this in living memory and we can only hope we won’t be again.

The virus crisis is not yet over. Nearly a million people in Glasgow and the west of Scotland are restricted in their movements. Aberdeen is just slowly emerging from a period of lockdown and rates of infection in other areas of the country are, concerningly, on the rise.

Pockets of outbreaks continue to pop up in schools or factories and as a result we’re having to be as on guard as ever to stop the virus spreading.

We already know the scars of this period will run deep for many years. Beloved local businesses have gone under, hard-working people have been plunged into poverty, key workers have been put under immense strain and worst of all thousands of families have been struck by tragedy and lost a member.

At this point in the arc of this crisis I’m astonished the First Minister has renewed her drive for independence.

She has stated unequivocally, and on multiple occasions, that her focus is singularly on the pandemic. I cannot therefore understand or accept her decision to dedicate government time to drafting parliamentary bills on independence that will debate the wording of a question and the timing of a vote.

Scotland deserves better than this.

In lockdown the UK has come together. United in the common goal of protecting one another and the institution that has served us all so well across these isles for more than 70 years – the NHS.

Periods of crisis like this one are thankfully rare. The answer to the pandemics, wars or famines of the past was never to think smaller. It was to pull together, work hard as one and support each other. The same is true now.

Protecting people’s jobs and keeping the nation safe has come at an unrivalled cost. The broad shoulders of the UK economy and our central bank have helped us do that.

The partnership we have has kept, and continues to keep, public service spending going through the bitter economic chill of this crisis.

Building back better, helping families in need, safeguarding remaining jobs and creating new ones – that’s what this government should be doing. Not pushing once again for division and separation.

It’s in emergencies that people can see through the bluster to what’s important.

You realise that the health of your family, friends and community is what matters. The ability of your neighbours to put food on the table and young people to keep learning even though times are tough.

In the dark days of lockdown when people were scared for their lives and their livelihoods the saving solution wasn’t breaking up old unions and ending valuable economic ties. Getting smaller isn’t the answer to Scotland’s troubles and it shouldn’t be the First Minister’s focus.

READ MORE: Don't call me Baroness: Davidson 'furious' over BBC description

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by Lorna Slater

co-leader of the Scottish Greens

I’m excited and optimistic about the prospect of a new vote on independence. We’ve seen Boris Johnson’s response to growing support in the polls: a promise to build roads in Scotland with a union flag on them. A fantasy road bridge to Ireland. And he has plans to hold a veto over our devolved parliament to force Scotland’s hand when it comes to selling off public services in his Brexit trade deals.

The Prime Minister has such disdain for devolution he’s even staged a coup to take control of the Scottish Conservatives. Unable to prove that the undemocratic Westminster system can accommodate Scotland’s interests, this UK Government wants to shut then down. No wonder support for independence is growing, and the longer he puts it off, the louder those calls will be.

But faced with the threat of COVID-19 economic fallout, Brexit deregulation and climate breakdown, Scotland has an opportunity to go on a different path.

It’s not enough just to talk about the referendum itself. We need to know what we want from independence. That’s the conversation I want to be having.

When it comes to tackling the global climate emergency, some talk about Scotland being too small to make a difference, but as someone who works in renewable energy, I believe Scotland can lead the way.

Thanks in large part to the sector I work in, tidal power, Scotland has 25% of all the renewable energy resource in Europe. With the right infrastructure to build on this potential capacity of 60GW or more, we could be a major international exporter of clean energy.

The courage needed here is to start that transition now, not wait until we have extracted every last drop of oil. And while the Scottish Greens push the SNP out of their comfort zone on this – there is a lot more they can do to create quality green jobs, for example – the fact remains that Westminster still dictates fiscal, economic and monetary policy, air transport, energy markets and efficiency. The tariffs impacting on my industry are dictated by Westminster.

It is a fact that there is simply no political will in the House of Commons, aside from the wonderful Caroline Lucas, to take the actions required with the urgency that reflects the existential threat hanging over us.

Independence isn’t about a change of government, it’s about a change of political structure that can represent us and gives us a chance to do things differently.

Instead, we are governed by those who we didn’t vote for, who are stuck in the failed old ways of the past.

I mean, the effectiveness of building loads of new roads was being questioned in the 1960s, but that is all Johnson and his cronies can come up with.

Instead, Scotland should be looking at how other normal European counties are building back better from COVID-19.

With a seat at the European table, we could do more than be a part of that, we can have a leadership role. I look forward to making that case next year.