NICOLA Sturgeon has launched the first stage in a new battle to take Scotland to independence, rallying her parliamentarians at a mass meeting and mobilising her grassroots army to win over voters on the doorsteps.

During the three-month push SNP politicians and activists aim to directly reach half the population, more than two million people, in town hall meetings, party canvassing and online surveys in the hope of increasing support for the Yes case ahead of a likely second referendum on self-rule.

In the shadow of the monument to the nation’s slain hero Sir William Wallace in Stirling, the First Minister said yesterday she wanted Scotland to consider new arguments for independence following June’s Brexit vote and the risks it posed.

She told the audience of more than 100 MPs, MSPs and MEPs that while independence would “present its own challenges and complexities” it “would allow us to take control of our destiny – to build our own prosperity on strong and stable foundations, create a fairer society and safeguard our place in the world”.

The SNP leader said it was right for her party to lead a new debate on independence in the face of Scotland standing to lose “billions of pounds in growth” in addition to the prospect of years of Conservative rule at Westminster following the “collapse” of the Labour party.

Her speech took place almost two years after the September, 2014 referendum, which saw Scots vote by 55 per cent to 45 per cent in favour of remaining in the United Kingdom.

But she said all polls since then had shown increased support for independence and added: “I suspect support for independence will be even higher if it becomes clear it is the best or only way to protect our interests.”

Underlining that the campaign by her party “will be a new debate, it will not be a re-run of 2014”, she added: “The UK that Scotland voted to stay part of has changed and so to have the arguments for and against independence.”

She also highlighted indications coming from Westminster that Prime Minister Theresa May was on course for a “hard Brexit” and that Scotland faced the danger “not just of being taken out of the EU against our will but of being taken out of the single market altogether”.

And she challenged Unionist assertions that a vote in favour of independence would jeopardise trade and open borders with the rest of the UK.

“Just yesterday, David Davis made a speech in Belfast ... that Brexit would not mean the end of the common travel area with independent Ireland, that it would not lead to a hard border between the north and south of Ireland and it would not result in barriers to trade.

“The UK Government cannot say that in Ireland but then get away with saying the opposite here in Scotland,” she said.

The First Minister added that “tough issues” concerning independence would not be ducked, including how an independent Scotland would address a £15 billion deficit and what currency it would use.

But she took issue with the Unionist parties for seizing on to the latest figures from the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers) report to champion the argument to remain in the UK.

She said: “They got very excited that Scotland, like most countries, has a fiscal deficit, while Norway has a surplus of five per cent. According to them, this seals the case for independence. Well, I beg to differ. Norway’s strength is actually a brilliant advert for small, independent countries.

“Scotland’s fiscal position is not a verdict on independence – it is an indictment of generations of Westminster government.”

Against the fiscal backdrop she announced the SNP would establish a party growth commission headed by former MSP Andrew Wilson to look at the prospects for Scotland’s economy and also consider matters such as currency under independence.

She said: “The commission will inform our thinking on how growth can be sustained in the here and now and during the period of uncertainty caused by Brexit.

“But it will also examine projections for Scotland’s finances in the context of independence and consider a policy programme – with social justice at its heart – to grow the economy and reduce Scotland’s deficit to a sustainable level.

“It will also consider the monetary arrangements that would best support and underpin a strategy for sustainable growth.”

And she added: “Scotland is a wealthy country. We have resources and talents other countries can only dream about. The real question is why, for so many people, it doesn’t feel that way. Why hasn’t Westminster control of our economy translated the wealth of our country into greater prosperity for our people?”

Alongside the party’s new drive for independence, the Scottish Government is already drawing up legislation for a fresh ballot.

The Scottish Greens will back a future bill allowing it to pass, with the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats all vowing to oppose it.

Last night the Unionist parties criticised the First Minster’s ambitions.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: “I will oppose any attempt to hold another referendum. It is unjustified and unnecessary.”

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said the FM was taking Scotland “back to the arguments of the past.”

Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said the First Minister had “given up on anything but a second independence drive”.