A second independence referendum could take place while Scotland is in the recovery phase from the Covid crisis.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney has said that a fresh breakaway poll should take place when "stability" has been achieved in the handling of the pandemic, and the country is "out of the woods". 

But he added that the vote could be held before the economic and societal shocks of the past 12 months have fully dissipated, to allow Scots to help guide the type of recovery for the country they wish to see. 

Nicola Sturgeon said a second independence referendum should be held in the next parliamentary term - within five years - as she launched the SNP's manifesto yesterday ahead of the Holyrood election.  

Speaking to the BBC this morning, Mr Swinney was unable to give a definite timeframe for another independence referendum, but said that Scotland should be able to decide its constitutional future as soon as "we get to a position of stability and we're seeing the signs of recovery taking place."

Mr Swinney said: "The First Minister has said she would hope to be in a position to be able to do this in the first half of this parliamentary term. I think that's a reasonable timeframe for us to consider. 

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"That may well be possible - once we've got to a position of stability... What the country has got to consider is how does it want to plan its recovery from Covid?

"I don't want the recovery of Covid in Scotland to be one designed by Boris Johnson in London which entrenches inequality in our society."

The Herald:

Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to hold a second Indyref

Mr Swiney added: "I want people in Scotland to be able to decide how the country should recover, how we should tackle that fundamental inequality, how we should use our resources, how we should enable individuals to participate in our society to be productive contributors - and to do that we need the powers of independence.

"I'm confident about giving that choice to the people of Scotland, and that choice should be made by the people of Scotland in all circumstances, but we have to it at the right time." 

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The SNP manifesto says the party's intention is for the referendum "to be within the first half of the five-year [parliamentary] term".

Ms Sturgeon has said it should take place when the crisis has passed, and insisted there will be no "democratic, electoral or moral justification" for Boris Johnson to block a referendum if there is a pro-independence majority in the Scottish Parliament. 

The Scottish Conservatives have accused the SNP of seeking to put "a referendum roadblock in front of Scotland’s recovery".