THIS election is Scotland’s chance to escape Brexit.

It is an opportunity to put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands – not Boris Johnson’s – by asserting our right to choose independence.

As a nation, we have been utterly ignored by Westminster in the three and a half years since the EU referendum.

Our views and votes have been treated with contempt by a Tory administration with no mandate here in Scotland.

Meanwhile, the notion of the UK as a partnership of equals has been shattered beyond repair by events since 2016. The aftermath of the first independence referendum in 2014 saw much talk from Unionists about a respect agenda. How hollow those words now ring.

That is why this election is so important. Because the key question is this: who governs Scotland – the people who live here, or an arrogant, out-of-touch Tory government who will never put our national interests first?

I’m proud to be attending tomorrow’s independence rally in Glasgow and to be speaking to the crowds who will gather in the city centre.

The National has done a great job in organising this event and it could not be more timely.

READ MORE: The National is hosting an indyref2 rally – and Nicola Sturgeon is speaking

Today was meant to be the first day of Brexit, which – if Boris Johnson had had his way – would have seen our country dragged out of Europe against our will after more than 45 years of partnership with our European friends and neighbours.

Instead, with his “do or die” pledge now in tatters, we are at the start of an election campaign that has the potential to define Scotland for decades to come.

It has become a standard pitch for politicians of any party at any election to say that it is the most important one in modern times.

This time – for Scotland especially – that really is true. Our country’s future is now on the line.

Make no mistake, any form of Brexit would be devastating for Scotland, costing jobs, slashing economic growth, reducing our working-age population and driving down living standards.

And the kind of Brexit that Boris Johnson would aim to ram through were he to get the chance would be even worse than Theresa May’s version. It would rip up the idea of a level playing field with the EU on the key issues of environmental standards, consumer protections and workers’ rights.

READ MORE: Laura Kuenssberg could not be more wrong about National #indyref2020 rally

That opens the way to Scotland being flooded with the likes of chlorinated chicken and hormone-injected beef from the US. And, ominously, it would pave the way for Donald Trump to get his hands on our NHS as part of the trade deal Johnson is so desperate to do with Washington.

But more than that, talk to any minority and they will tell you that the voices of hatred have only grown louder since Brexit.

Last week I hosted a meeting of 60 EU nationals from across Glasgow Pollok. There was anger and tears from those attending, telling me that for the first time in their lives they have been made to feel like they don’t belong in the UK because of Brexit.

Scotland, though of course we have our challenges, is a welcoming country. We cannot allow the toxicity of Brexit to make those who have made Scotland their home feel unwelcome.

Whatever happens, the Brexit debate will not be over for a very long time. It has poisoned Westminster politics and its aftershocks will continue for years, indeed decades, to come.

And, aside from the practical impact it threatens, Brexit has shown more clearly than any event in the modern era how Scotland’s voice simply doesn’t count in the UK.

That’s why Scotland needs to escape from it – and why we need to choose independence.

This election is the chance to assert and defend that right in the face of the most outrageous anti-democratic bids to deny it.

But already the wall of Westminster opposition to indyref2 is crumbling. The election campaign was barely a day old when Labour indicated they would not stand in the way of Scotland’s right to decide its own future.

The First Minister has made clear she will demand a Section 30 order, transferring power for an independence referendum before the end of this year.

And when she does, it is vital it is backed up by as many SNP votes and seats as possible in the coming election.