NICOLA Sturgeon's Government has published a draft bill for another independence referendum despite opposition demands to focus on the economic recovery from Covid.

SNP ministers said Indyref2 would let people decide what kind of country they wanted to build “once the public health crisis is over”.

The Government said the timing would be a decision for the next Scottish Parliament, which runs until 2026.

However it said it still believed it should be in the first half of the parliament “when it is safe to do so”.

The Tories said the First Minister was making a "dangerous misjudgment" given the public's desire to restart the economy, and accused her of a "desperate" bid to draw attention away from the Alex Salmond affair.

A definitive ruling on whether Ms Sturgeon broke the ministerial code over the affair is due out later today.

Labour said Indyref2 was not the priority given continuing problems with Covid and the need to focus on jobs.

The Liberal Democrats attacked the Government for tasking officials to work on Indyref2 instead of Covid.

However the Scottish Greens backed the move.

READ MORE: SNP apply to have 'IndyRef2' put on ballot paper in May's election

The Draft Bill, which is only three pages long, proposes reusing the same question as the 2014 referendum, "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

That is likely to prove controversial, as the Yes/No format was seen as favouring the Yes side.

At the 2016 Brexit referendum, the Electoral Commission backed a Leave/Remain format instead.

A recent poll asking whether Scots whether they should Leave or Remain in the UK favoured the Remain option.

The Electoral Commission would have to consider the intelligibility and fairness of any Indyref2 question.

Holyrood currently lacks the power to hold a legallly-watertight Indyref2, as the constitution is an issue reserved to Westminster under the 1998 Scotland Act.

After the 2019 general election, Ms Sturgeon asked Boris Johnson to transfer referendum powers to Holyrood under Section 30 of the Act.

However, he refused, saying the No result should stand for a generation, in line with SNP claims in 2014 that it was a "once in a generation vote".

The SNP recently published an 11-point plan on how to overcome Westminster's refusal.

It said that if a Yes majority was returned to Holyrood in May, MSPs would again request a Section 30 order, and if that was refused would enact their own Referendum Bill.

The move would effectively dare the UK Government to challenge the Bill at the UK Supreme Court to establish whether Holyrood had the power to hold Indyref2 without Westminster's consent, an as-yet untested point of law.

READ MORE: Exclusive poll - SNP set for knife-edge majority in Holyrood vote

The SNP recently asked the Electoral Commission to include the phrase "Vote SNP for IndyRef2" alongside its name on the ballot paper in May to put pressure on Mr Johnson to grant a referendum if the SNP win a majority.

In his introduction to the draft Bill, SNP constitution secretary Michael Russell said the Government had been "laser-focused" on tackling Covid over the last year.

He went on: "The question we face as we come out of the health crisis is this: who has the right to decide the kind of country Scotland should be after the pandemic?

"Should it be the people who live here – or Westminster governments?

"The Scottish Government believes that the people of Scotland have the right to decide how Scotland recovers from the pandemic and what sort of country they wish to build after the crisis.

"To ensure the people of Scotland have that right, the Scottish Government believes there should be an independence referendum within the next term of the Scottish Parliament once the public health crisis is over. 

"The evidence of recent years tells us what will happen if Westminster maintains, and tightens, its control.

"The jobs recovery we all want to see will be held back by the permanent hit of a hard Brexit which is already hitting our economy."

The Bill was promised by the end of the parliamentary year last autum in the Programme for Government.

READ MORE: Lesley Riddoch - Can Nicola Sturgeon live to fight another day?

However opposition parties have repeatedly urged ministers not to proceed with it, calling it a distraction from the immediate need to rebuild the economy.

Even if a referendum could be held in the first half of the next parliament, negotiations with London on dissolving the Union would be likely to take many years.

A Government note accompanying the draft Bill said the date would take account "of a range of factors, including the state of the pandemic, the requirements for a proper period of campaigning to allow the people of Scotland to make a fully informed choice and for the necessary administrative arrangements to be put in place once the Bill has been passed".

It added: "The final decision on a date for the referendum will be for the next Scottish Parliament to take."

On the question which would appear on any ballot, it said: "The Scottish Government proposes that the referendum question should be the same as that used at the 2014 referendum.

"The draft Bill therefore includes the question and the form of the ballot paper used in 2014.

"The question continues to be well understood by the Scottish public, giving a high degree of confidence that it remains the most appropriate question to use."

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: "Publishing a draft referendum bill is simply irresponsible. It is a distraction - we need to focus on continuing to tackle the pandemic and rebuilding our economy.

“The UK Government is supporting people across the UK throughout the pandemic, including supporting jobs with our furlough scheme and rolling out vaccines for people in all parts of the United Kingdom."

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: "It is beyond the comprehension of most Scots that Nicola Sturgeon considers this to be a priority.

"Scotland continues to be gripped by the gobal pandemic and even once normality slowly returns, the shockwaves will be felt for years to come.

"The SNP Government is mired in sleaze with nothing left to offer except yet more division and grievance.

“The motivation for this is as much to do with distracting people from the Sturgeon-Salmond scandal.

"A responsible government would be entirely focused on Scotland's post-pandemic recovery, but Sturgeon and her ministers have become detached from reality and the priorities of ordinary families.

"That is why this election is so important for Scotland's future. The SNP will neglect the NHS, schools and the day job of governance to irresponsibly drag the country through another painful battle which pits friends, families and neighbours against each other.

"Only a vote for the Scottish Conservative can block this madness. Labour simply can’t be trusted. They are more likely to side with the SNP than to defend the UK.”

Labour MSP Colin Smyth said: "The focus for all of Scotland’s politicians should be on bringing the country together, and an independence referendum is not a priority at this time.

“Scottish Labour will focus on what unites us, not what divides us.

“In contrast to the SNP and Boris Johnson’s Tories, Scottish Labour will put our national recovery first.

“At this election, Scottish Labour is putting forward a National Recovery plan that will put the national interest before the nationalist interest.”

READ MORE: Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross urged to quit as MP ahead of election

Scottish Liberal Demcorat leader Willie Rennie said: "Holy moly, they've had people working on the referendum instead of dealing with the pandemic.

"Dozens of civil servants could have been planning to get cancer services running full speed but they've been ordered to do this instead. Or they could have been working on getting funds to business, better mental health services or support for schools.

“We are still in a pandemic. Thousands have lost their lives, thousands more have lost their job.

“Reasonable people will think that this is the wrong moment to be pushing a referendum.

"We should put recovery first and bin this bill."

Mr Russell said: “Our top priority will continue to be dealing with the pandemic and keeping the country safe, but we are optimistic that because of the incredible efforts of people across Scotland better times lie ahead.

“The Scottish Government believes it should be the people living in Scotland who have the right to decide how we recover from the pandemic and what sort of country we wish to build after the crisis.

“If Westminster maintains its control, recent history shows what Scotland can expect: an economic recovery hindered by a hard Brexit that is already taking a significant toll and the continued, systematic undermining of devolution, which is weakening our parliament’s powers to maintain food and environmental standards and protect the NHS from post-Brexit trade deals.

“Scotland’s recovery should be made by the people who live here and who care most about Scotland. That is why Scotland’s future should be Scotland’s choice.

“It should be for the next Scottish Parliament to decide the timing of the referendum. So that the recovery from the pandemic can be made in Scotland, the Scottish Government believes it should be held in the first half of the new Parliamentary term.

“If there is a majority in the Scottish Parliament after the forthcoming election for an independence referendum there can be no democratic justification whatsoever for any Westminster government to seek to block a post-pandemic referendum.”

Scottish Greens co-convener Lorna Slater said: “Scotland’s future must be in the hands of those who live and work in Scotland, and the Scottish Greens are asking people to vote like our future depends on it this May.

"Our manifesto will support a referendum on our shared future, and polls show we may be crucial in ensuring this bill passes.”

Pamela Nash, chief executive of the anti-independence Scotland in Union campaign, said: “This is an outrageous and irresponsible use of public resources when people are losing their lives and livelihoods.

“The people of Scotland do not believe a divisive second independence referendum is a priority, but the SNP is refusing to listen.

“The coming economic recession will be devastating for families and communities, and to propose holding another referendum in the first half of the next parliamentary term shows how little the SNP cares about the Covid recovery and the challenges ahead of us that will last for many years.

“We are stronger together as part of the UK and all politicians have a duty to focus on bringing people together as we recover from the pandemic.”