NICOLA Sturgeon’s office has refused to say whether her long-awaited Bill for an independence referendum will be published before the autumn.

The First Minister’s spokesperson refused to say if the Indyref2 legislation would be introduced at Holyrood before the parliament goes into recess at the start of July.

If the Bill has not appeared by then, it cannot be published until the parliament resumes in September.

Ms Sturgeon has said she intends to hold a second referendum by the end of 2023.

She wants a joint agreement with the UK Government regarding the vote, but could try to use a Holyrood-only bill if Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to block her plans.

When asked if the referendum bill would be published before the recess, the First Minister’s spokesperson said: “I’m not going to get into issues of the bill, other than what the First Minister is on record as saying, for no other reason than if I was to start talking about the bill introduction.. we’ve got a PO [Presiding Officer] who would probably come down on us like a ton of bricks.”

He confirmed that the bill would be published this year.

But when he was asked why he could not confirm whether it would come out this month, he replied: “Because I am not going to get into specific timing.”

The spokesman did however say that the first in a series of papers setting out a prospectus for independence would be published online before the recess.

He said the initial paper would be a “scene setter” and that more would follow, building into a collective case for leaving the Union.

He refused to say if the full prospectus would be sent to every household in Scotland, as happened for the 2014 referendum, despite Ms Sturgeon saying she intended to ensure every voter was fully informed before making a decision.