NICOLA Sturgeon is set to publish the next paper in her prospectus for Scottish independence today.
The First Minister will reveal the next part of her “detailed prospectus” with a paper titled "Renewing Democracy Through Independence".
The first of these reports, described as a “scene setter” document, was revealed at Bute House in Edinburgh last month. The paper highlighted economic areas where the UK is outperformed by a group of other independent European nations.
Since then, Sturgeon has confirmed that she wants a second independence referendum to take place on October 19, 2023.
The Supreme Court has been asked to rule on whether Holyrood has the legal power to take this action without Westminster's consent. If it rules against the Scottish Government, Sturgeon plans to use the next General Election as a de-facto referendum.
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At a launch event in Edinburgh, Sturgeon is expected to say: “This discussion could not be more timely or urgent – the democratic deficit Scotland faces is not a recent phenomenon, but the evidence of it now is starker than ever.
“A Prime Minister with no democratic endorsement from Scotland is about to be replaced by yet another Prime Minister that Scotland hasn’t voted for – and wouldn’t vote for even if we were given the chance.
“All Scotland ever hears from UK politicians these days is democracy denial. They trade opinions on how many years it should be before Westminster might ‘allow’ us to make a democratic choice about our own future.
“The fact that the Scottish people have repeatedly elected a majority in the Scottish Parliament committed to an independence referendum is treated as immaterial.
“You don’t have to be a supporter of independence to know that’s not democracy.
“That attitude is not surprising from Tories – but these days, where the Tories go, Labour seem obliged to follow.
“Just as in 2014, they are teaming up with the Tories to frustrate the will of the Scottish people.
“Labour’s positions are nothing to do with the interests, let alone the democratic wishes, of people in Scotland.
“They are just cynical political calculations, based on the deeply misguided belief that the way back to power is to adopt wholesale the policies of the Tory Government they claim to oppose.
“What Scotland is hearing and seeing, on a daily basis, from Westminster parties encapsulates the democratic deficit that we face as part of the UK.”
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She will say that only independence offers a “real and permanent alternative” to Tory Government.
It comes after it emerged that the UK Government had urged the Supreme Court to throw out the case.
And just last week, Boris Johnson once again wrote to Sturgeon refusing to provide a Section 30 order.
The outgoing Prime Minister told her: "As our country faces unprecedented challenges at home and abroad, I cannot agree that now is the time to return to a question, which was clearly answered by the people of Scotland in 2014.”
While Tories often insist that the indyref being held in 2014 means there can be no further ballot, they do not mention that the Smith Commission - signed by all parties after the vote - says "nothing in this report prevents Scotland becoming an independent country in the future should the people of Scotland so choose".
In her response to the letter, the SNP chief told the soon-to-be-gone Johnson that Scotland would not be prisoner of "this or any PM".
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