Nicola Sturgeon will launch a new independence campaign on Tuesday, saying the UK was in a “mess”.
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister will release a document comparing the UK’s economic and social performance with the “surprising” success of other European countries and concluding that Scotland should leave the Union.
Speaking before a press conference at his Bute House residence in Edinburgh, he said that in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis it was “exactly the time” to embark on another constitutional referendum.
Brexit and Boris Johnson
In an apparent reference to Brexit and the Boris Johnson government, he argued that Scots would have voted in favor of secrecy in the 2014 vote if they had known what was to happen.
Ms Sturgeon said a number of later documents would examine specific issues such as currency, such as closing the huge public spending deficit and trade in Scotland, with experts warning that EU membership would require a tough border with England. .
But the Prime Minister gave no indication of when she intends to publish her long-promised referendum or how a legal vote would be held without the consent of the UK government.
He said there was “work in progress” to examine how a binding referendum could be achieved without Boris Johnson transferring the necessary legal powers, but he repeatedly refused to provide any details.
With Scotland enduring huge NHS waiting lists, Holyrood’s opposition parties have criticized Ms Sturgeon’s “shameful” decision to divert millions of pounds of public money and senior officials to update her independence case.
The Prime Minister wants to hold a referendum in the autumn of next year, but a number of opinion polls have indicated that the deadline is opposed by most Scots.
Why not Scotland?
In an attempt to win them over, he will publish an article entitled Independence in the Modern World. Richer, happier, fairer: why not Scotland?
He will be joined at the launch by Patrick Harvie, a junior minister and co-leader of the pro-separation Scottish Greens.
It is the first in a series of reports called Building a New Scotland, written by Ms Sturgeon’s officials, which together will form an updated prospectus to break the UK.
The first article comes after the OECD warned last week that UK growth is expected to be the worst of the G20 next year apart from Russia.
Mrs. Sturgeon said the document was a “scenario maker” and that “it looked like the success of Scotland’s neighboring countries compared to the UK”.
Speaking before the launch, he told BBC Scotland: “No one right now can look at the UK, the mess it is currently in and the UK’s prospects outside the European Union, for sure, and conclude anything other than that Scotland can do better as an independent country.
“In fact, if we had known in 2014 everything we know now about the path the UK has taken over the years since then, I have no doubt that Scotland would have voted yes. [to separation] then.”
He argued that the separation was needed to help Scotland cope with the cost of living crisis, as it would mean the country would no longer be run by “a UK government committed to a tough Brexit at all costs” .
‘distraction’ from the referendum
But Donald Cameron, the secretary of the Constitution in the shadow of Scottish Conservatives, said: “The vast majority of the Scottish people do not want the distraction of another referendum next year. They want the government to focus on % in our recovery from the pandemic, the global crisis of the cost of living, support for our NHS and job protection.
“Still, Nicola Sturgeon is recklessly moving forward with his obsession anyway. This is nothing but embarrassing when the country faces so many momentous challenges.”
Scotland’s trade with the rest of the UK is worth more than three times as much as with the EU and Labor warned that independence “would make Brexit look like a walk in the park”.
Sarah Boyack, spokeswoman for the Scottish Labor Constitution, said: “We should work together to deal with the cost of living crisis now, but instead the SNP-Green government wants to separate us.
“This is a horrible waste of time, energy and money when our utilities are being cut to the bone.”