Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Nicola Sturgeon to publish new referendum bill

A consultation gets under way next week on plans for a second Scottish independence referendum, the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed.

She told the party's Glasgow conference that an Independence Referendum Bill would be published next week.

It marks the first step to holding a second vote.

Ms Sturgeon said Scotland had the right to choose a different path if it was not allowed to protect its interests "within the UK".

The first Scottish independence referendum, which took place on 18 September, 2014, resulted in 55% of voters saying "no".

Ms Sturgeon told delegates that Scotland had the right to seek something better if there were prospects of an unstable future as part of the UK.

Image copyright PA Image caption The push for a second independence referendum continues

She said: "I am determined that Scotland will have the ability to reconsider the question of independence and to do so before the UK leaves the EU - if that is necessary to protect our country's interests.

"So, I can confirm today that the Independence Referendum Bill will be published for consultation next week."

On 24 June, the day after the UK voted to leave the EU, Ms Sturgeon said a second independence referendum was "highly likely".

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption SNP Conference: Nicola Sturgeon webcast

Those who voted in Scotland backed remaining in Europe by 62% to 38% while the UK as a whole backed leave, by a margin of 52% to 48%.

However, Scottish Secretary David Mundell called on Ms Sturgeon to "commit her government to working constructively with the UK government to seize the opportunities that will bring, not taking Scotland back to the divisive constitutional debates of the past".

He said: "Constant talk of another independence referendum is creating uncertainty and damaging the Scottish economy at a time when our growth is lagging behind the UK as a whole."

Will a second independence referendum happen?

By BBC Scotland political editor Brian Taylor

Consultation does not mean decision. It does not mean a date for the ballot. It does not mean action. It does not mean a referendum will definitely happen. It means next to nothing.

However, there was in the speech a far more significant announcement which, shorn of rhetoric, drew relatively little applause.

That was when the FM said her government would put forward proposals - which they are already crafting - to maintain as much of Scotland's links with the EU as may be thought feasible, post Brexit.

Crucially, this would be within the UK. It would not require indyref2. It would not require independence. It would, however, require new powers for the Scottish Parliament - including the power to reach transnational agreements.

It would require, therefore, a flexible UK: perhaps on the lines of the relationship between Flanders and Belgium as a whole. Perhaps maintaining connections to the single market, Norway style. Perhaps also driven by the need to accord special status to Northern Ireland.

In essence, Ms Sturgeon is making that the core of her pitch. She is challenging Theresa May to smile upon this prospect, to take it seriously and, ultimately, to advance it as part of the UK Brexit pitch if it is judged worthwhile.

Read more from Brian

Ms Sturgeon's opening address also saw her issue a warning that the right wing of the Tory party was seeking to "hijack" the EU referendum result.

She told the 3,000 delegates gathered that the Tories were using the result as a "licence for xenophobia".

Ms Sturgeon insisted that the Prime Minister Theresa May needed to respect the 62% who voted to remain in the EU.

She also confirmed that SNP MPs would oppose Brexit legislation when it comes before the House of Commons in 2017.

The MSP said: "I can confirm today that SNP MPs will vote against the Brexit Bill when it comes before the House of Commons next year.

"That bill will repeal the legislation that enacted our EU membership. Scotland didn't vote for that and so neither will our MPs.

"But we will also work to persuade others - Labour, Liberals and moderate Tories - to join us in a coalition against a hard Brexit: not just for Scotland, but for the whole UK.

"The Conservative Party manifesto, on which Theresa May and all other Tory MPs were elected said this: 'We are clear about what we want from Europe. We say: yes to the Single Market'.

"The prime minister may have a mandate to take England and Wales out of the EU but she has no mandate whatsoever to remove any part of the UK from the single market."

Responding to Ms Sturgeon's address, the prime minister's spokeswoman said she was "absolutely committed to engaging with the people of Scotland, with understanding their interests and making sure that as we go through the process of negotiating the UK's exit, we do what's in the interest of the UK".

What message is Nicola Sturgeon sending to Theresa May?

By BBC Scotland editor Sarah Smith

Nicola Sturgeon told the SNP conference that not a day passes without someone telling her to "hurry up" with a second referendum on Scottish independence.

And every day someone tells her to "slow down".

It is certainly true that every day since the EU referendum the question is asked when, or if, the SNP's call for Indyref2 - as it's known - might happen.

With many commentators (myself included) concluding that the cautious, canny Sturgeon will not rush into a vote she knows she might lose.

Today Ms Sturgeon made very clear that she is prepared to trigger a second referendum if she feels that is the only way to protect Scotland from what she calls a "hard Brexit imposed by the hard right of the Tory party".

She was angered by what she heard from the prime minister at the Tory conference last week.

Read more from Sarah

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Angus Robertson has been voted the new deputy leader of the SNP

At the beginning of the three-day conference, if was announced that SNP MP Angus Robertson had been voted the new deputy of the party.

Mr Robertson defeated Edinburgh East MP Tommy Sheppard, Alyn Smith MEP and Inverclyde councillor Chris McEleny to take 52.5% of the votes cast.

About 120,000 SNP members were entitled to vote in the contest.</s>At the the SNP conference in Glasgow, Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, announces that her government will publish a bill for a new independence referendum next week. This is a direct challenge to Theresa May’s hardline stance on leaving the EU
• Nicola Sturgeon challenges May with second referendum bill</s>Nicola Sturgeon is to publish a draft bill calling for a second Scottish independence referendum next week in a direct challenge to Theresa May’s hardline stance on leaving the EU.

The first minister told the Scottish National party conference in Glasgow she had a powerful political mandate to defend Scotland’s vote in favour of remaining in the EU in June’s referendum.

But the UK government’s recent rhetoric and policies on immigration and remaining within the EU single market made it clear the Tory party had now been taken over by its “rampant” and xenophobic right wing.

To applause, Sturgeon told the prime minister: “Hear this: if you think for one single second that I’m not serious about doing what it takes to protect Scotland’s interests, then think again.”

Sturgeon then won a standing ovation when she announced that the draft Scottish independence referendum bill would be published next week – earlier than her officials had previously signalled.

Speeding up the referendum bill process opens up a deepening and increasingly significant political divide between the Scottish and UK governments, showing Sturgeon’s increasing confidence that the Tories’ shift to a harder line on Brexit has strengthened her hand.

Sturgeon faces clear short-term obstacles to staging a second vote on leaving the UK. Scottish voters are still not convinced of the case for a fast second referendum and Holyrood requires Westminster’s legal authority to stage one.

The latest poll, published on Thursday by the Herald from BMG, found independence does not have a majority and that only 12% of voters would switch to back leaving the UK if there was a hard Brexit. It found 47% were against independence, 38% in favour and 12% undecided.

The economics of Scottish independence are still extremely difficult: the latest GDP data showed Scotland’s economy still growing at a third of the pace of the UK’s as a whole and government data showed a £15bn Scottish spending deficit last year – 21% of overall government spending in Scotland.

The SNP leader told delegates her first objective was to win far more power for the Scottish parliament – a proposal many senior SNP figures including the former health secretary Alex Neil now back.

Sturgeon made clear for the first time she would press May to strengthen Holyrood’s autonomy over policies currently overseen by the EU but devolved within the UK to Scotland, such as fisheries and agriculture.

But Sturgeon expanded that list of demands to include the right for Scotland to have special access to the single market, the freedom to have distinctive immigration policies, and the right to strike separate foreign deals, without specifying what those deals might be.

However, Sturgeon risks losing any goodwill with May’s government by also promising on Thursday to vote against the UK government’s bill to leave the EU – regardless of the powers on offer to Holyrood. That stance is likely to entrench opposition to increased powers for Scotland among UK cabinet ministers.

Sturgeon will meet May in late October at a joint ministerial committee meeting between the prime minister and leaders of the UK’s three devolved governments, where a formal deal on involving the devolved administrations will also be signed.

Signalling what would be on her agenda at that meeting, Sturgeon said: “Over the next few weeks we will table specific proposals to protect Scotland’s interests in Europe and keep us in the single market – even if the rest of the UK decides to leave.



“It’s clear that beyond hardline rhetoric the UK government has no detailed plan. So the Scottish government will set out a plan for Scotland. We will seek to make this plan a key element of the UK’s article 50 negotiation. 

 “It will require substantial additional powers for the Scottish parliament.”</s>LONDON (AP) — Scotland’s leader has again warned that a second referendum on Scottish independence is likely if British leaders pursue a radical break with the European Union.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon closed the Scottish National Party conference in Glasgow on Saturday with a vow to take action to keep Scotland inside the EU’s enormous single market even if Britain leaves.

She said if the British government rejects those efforts and takes steps to hurt Scotland’s economy she would “make sure” that Scots get another chance to choose a better future.

The pro-independence Sturgeon had said Thursday that her government would shortly publish a bill laying the groundwork for a new independence referendum — the first step toward a new vote on whether Scotland should leave the U.K.

An earlier referendum in 2014 ended with Scottish voters opting to remain part of the United Kingdom.

Sturgeon says the UK that existed in 2014 will no longer be in existence if there is a so-called “hard Brexit” departure — one that severs economic ties to Europe’s markets and leads to a lowering of living standards and unemployment in Scotland.

She pointed out that Scottish voters had indicated a strong desire to remain in the EU in the June 23 referendum. They were joined in that view by residents of London and Northern Ireland, but a majority of British voters cast ballots in favor of leaving the 28-nation bloc.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will start the formal process to withdraw from the EU by March 31, 2017. The complex process is expected to take at least two years.

In another sign that Sturgeon is determined to place Scotland on its own path, she said she plans to open a Scottish “trade and innovation” hub in Berlin, the German capital, and to set up a trade envoy system to pursue Scottish business links.</s>The Scottish government will publish a Bill for a second independence referendum within days, first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said.

Ms Sturgeon said the move was necessary in light of the Brexit vote so Scots can reconsider the issue “before the UK leaves the EU”.

She told delegates at the SNP conference in Glasgow that an Independence Referendum Bill is to be published for consultation by her government next week.

She also used her opening speech to send a firm message to UK prime minister Theresa May, stating: “If you think for one single second that I’m not serious about doing what it takes to protect Scotland’s interests, then think again.

“If you can’t - or won’t - allow us to protect our interests within the UK, then Scotland will have the right to decide, afresh, if it wants to take a different path.”

Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of Scots voted to Remain part of the European Union, and Ms Sturgeon told Ms May: “Scotland didn’t choose to be in this situation - your party put us here.”

While Scots rejected independence in the referendum in September 2014, the SNP leader said in the run-up to that vote that Westminster leaders had insisted Scotland was “an equal partner in the UK”.

But in the wake of the European referendum in June, she said the moment has now come to prove it.

Ms Sturgeon told the conference: “I am determined that Scotland will have the ability to reconsider the question of independence — and to do so before the UK leaves the EU — if that is necessary to protect our country’s interests.

“So I can confirm today that the Independence Referendum Bill will be published for consultation next week.”</s>Nicola Sturgeon today announced at the SNP’s autumn conference in Glasgow that an Independence Referendum Bill would be published next week. Reaction was predictably mixed...</s>Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister and SNP leader, is doing a round of interviews this morning. The SNP conference is taking place in Glasgow and Sturgeon has been answering questions about the speech she gave yesterday. Her main speech to the conference will take place tomorrow afternoon but, just as Theresa May chose to give two speeches to her party conference, a Brexit one at the start and a domestic policy one at the end, Sturgeon opened the conference yesterday with a speech about Brexit and Scottish independence.

Here is the Guardian’s story about it by Severin Carrell.

And here is how it starts.

Nicola Sturgeon warned that she was prepared to stage a second Scottish independence referendum before the UK quits the European Union as she attacked the Tories for their “xenophobic” rhetoric on the EU. In a clear challenge to Theresa May’s government in London, the first minister told the Scottish National party conference in Glasgow she would unveil draft legislation next week to prepare for a rerun of the 2014 referendum within the next two years. Sturgeon said the UK government’s recent rhetoric on capping immigration and on quitting the EU single market made it clear that the Tory party had been taken over by its “rampant and xenophobic” right wing. To applause from delegates, Sturgeon singled out the prime minister and declared: “Hear this: if you think for one single second that I’m not serious about doing what it takes to protect Scotland’s interests, then think again.” Her official spokesman cautioned that this was designed to give the Scottish government the full range of options. Sturgeon had a dual-track strategy and her immediate goal was to get the strongest powers possible for Holyrood in the Brexit deal.

Sturgeon will be on the Today programme at 8.10, and I will be covering her interview live.

Sturgeon has already been on BBC Breakfast. She told the programme that the rhetoric from the Conservative conference was “xenophobic”. This is from Peter Murrell, the SNP’s chief executive (and Sturgeon’s husband).

Later I will be reporting from the conference in Glasgow. But there is a slight hitch. I missed a flight and so I’m still stuck at Gatwick airport. I will be covering the conference proceedings in full this afternoon, when members will debate a resolution about whether Scotland should prepare for a second independence referendum “if no viable solution to safeguard our membership [of the EU] as part of the UK exists”, and I will be covering more conference news for the next hour or so, but the blog may have to hibernate mid-morning.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.</s>Nicola Sturgeon has insisted she is “not rushing to another independence referendum”, after telling the Scottish National party conference in Glasgow that she would unveil draft legislation next week to prepare for a rerun of the 2014 referendum within the next two years.

Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether this was a threat to hang over Theresa May’s Westminster government, Scotland’s first minister insisted: “Threat is a very pejorative word. I’m being straight with people.”

Her phrasing appeared more cautious than in a later interview on BBC Breakfast, when Sturgeon said she believed a second referendum was “highly likely” within the next two years, repeating the wording she first used on the morning after the vote to leave the EU in June. 



Sturgeon added that her government would continue to consider options other than independence that could enable Scotland to remain within the single market if the rest of the UK left. Negotiations are due to start in late October, when the prime minister will meet the leaders of devolved governments to agree on joint plans to prepare for Brexit.

The SNP leader added that she shared the concern of many moderate Conservatives that May’s concentration on free movement would make leaving the single market inevitable.

“I don’t want Scotland taken out of the single market ... The single market is so important to our economy and my worry – and many moderate Tories have this worry – is that by making this all about control of borders, Theresa May is making it inevitable that the UK leaves the single market.



“I think the UK would be taking a step off the edge of a cliff to leave the single market and I don’t want Scotland to have to do that too.”



After confirming in her welcome address to SNP conference on Thursday that the SNP at Westminster would work with other opposition parties and pro-EU Tory MPs to vote against the government bill to enable Brexit to take place, which a UK government source later suggested would weaken her hand in future talks, she argued that “there’s a lot here for us to try to influence”.

“I think the prime minister should be seeking an outcome to keep the UK in the single market. Whether she’s going to do that is open to serious question; whether there’s a majority in the House of Commons for coming out of the single market is also open to question so there’s a lot here for us to try to influence.

“We’ll try to influence the whole of the UK away from a hard Brexit. We’ll put forward proposals that respect the view that Scotland expressed in the referendum but if all that fails then I think Scotland does have the right to ask itself again does it want to stay part of the UK coming out of the EU or does it want to choose a different and in my view a better path because the UK we voted to stay part of in 2014 is not the UK we now face the prospect of.”



Sturgeon said that, regardless of polling that indicates that a convincing majority in favour of independence has yet to be reached, even after the vote to leave the EU, “I’ve got a duty to tell people straight what I think needs to be done to protect our interests.”.



While acknowledging that the slump in oil prices meant that those advocating independence in the future would have to answer “hard economic questions”, she said the debate would no longer be about “the economic certainty and stability of the UK versus the uncertainty of independence” as it was characterised in 2014.

“Yes the oil price is low right now but Scotland has a strong and diverse economy. This is about how you give yourself the levers and controls to build greater economic strength.”</s>Nicola Sturgeon will call on moderate Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats to form a coalition with the SNP to fight against a “hard Brexit” deal for the UK.

The SNP leader will call for cross-party co-operation to defeat forthcoming Brexit legislation and warn that the right wing of the Conservative Party has hijacked the European Union withdrawal process and is using it to promote xenophobia.

Ms Sturgeon will step up her attacks on the Conservatives, claiming the party has been “shamed” by the way it is approaching Brexit.

On the opening day of the SNP conference in Glasgow, Ms Sturgeon will argue that the Prime Minister does not have a mandate to pursue a Brexit settlement which removes the UK from the single market.

In her welcome address to members, Ms Sturgeon will confirm that SNP MPs will oppose Theresa May’s Brexit bill when it comes before the House of Commons next year.

“That bill will repeal the legislation that enacted our EU membership. Scotland didn’t vote for that and so neither will our MPs,” Ms Sturgeon will say.

“But we will also work to persuade others – Labour, Liberals and moderate Tories – to join us in a coalition against a hard Brexit not just for Scotland but for the whole UK.”

Ms Sturgeon will argue the hard Brexit being discussed by the UK government does not fit in with the Conservative Party’s manifesto commitment to the single market.

She will say: “The Conservative Party manifesto, on which Theresa May and all other Tory MPs were elected, said this: ‘We are clear about what we want from Europe. We say: yes to the single market’.

“The Prime Minister may have a mandate to take England and Wales out of the EU but she has no mandate whatsoever to remove any part of the UK from the single market.

“If the majority in the House of Commons stand up for what they know to be right, she will not get away with doing it.”

Speaking at the SECC in Glasgow, the SNP leader will step up attacks on eurosceptic Tories at a conference that is set to attract 3,000 delegates and see her plans for a second independence referendum come under the spotlight.

Ms Sturgeon is preparing legislation for another poll on the basis that she believes independence should be one of her options as she attempts to maintain Scotland’s relationship with the EU.

Delegates are expected to support a resolution suggesting that a referendum should be held before 2019 if no viable solution can be found allowing Scotland to remain an EU member while still being part of the UK.

Ms Sturgeon will also attack the UK government for suggesting that UK companies draw up lists of foreign workers. Mrs May has since attempted to distance herself from the policy, announced by Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Ms Sturgeon will say: “Last week, we heard an intolerance towards those from other countries that has no place in a modern, multicultural, civilised society. It was a disgrace. It shames the Tory party and all who speak for it.

“But make no mistake – the right wing of the Tory party is now in the ascendancy and it is seeking to hijack the referendum result. Brexit has become Tory Brexit.

“They are using it as licence for the xenophobia that has long lain under the surface – but which is now in full view. They are holding it up as cover for a hard Brexit that they have no mandate for, but which they are determined to impose, regardless of the ruinous consequences.

“I suspect that many of those who voted to Leave now look at the actions and rhetoric of the Tories and think, ‘That’s not what I voted for’.

“They may have voted to take back control – but I don’t imagine many of them are happy to have handed that control to Boris Johnson, David Davis and Liam Fox.”

She will add: “They certainly didn’t vote to throw economic rationality out of the window. They didn’t vote to lower their own living standards or to sacrifice jobs and investment. They didn’t vote for our businesses to face tariffs or for holiday-makers to need visas. They didn’t vote for the scapegoating of foreigners.”

Ms Sturgeon will attempt to contrast the Conservative approach with her own plans to build an “inclusive” and “fairer” Scotland.

The SNP leader will talk of her ambition to create a country where “we cherish diversity and value people for the contribution they make to our society – not one where we judge them on the country of their birth or the colour of their passport,” adding: “The contrast with the attitude of the Westminster government couldn’t be more stark.”

Last night the Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont described Ms Sturgeon’s attack on his party as “cheap rabble-rousing” and urged her to withdraw her threat of a second independence referendum.

Mr Lamont said: “It’s deeply disappointing that instead of setting out a constructive plan on how she intends to manage the Brexit process, Nicola Sturgeon is intent on using her party conference to play to the SNP gallery.

“Cheap rabble-rousing in front of the party faithful won’t obscure the First Minister’s failure to speak for the majority of Scots.

“There is one thing Nicola Sturgeon can do to support Scotland this week and that is to dump her threat of a second referendum on independence.

“Failure to do so will only confirm that this First Minister puts the minority interest of her party supporters before the majority will of people across Scotland.

“We need a government in Scotland which is 100 per cent focused on the day job, and which puts an end to the uncertainty hanging over Scotland’s place in the UK.

“Scotland has spoken on independence. This week, the First Minister must show she has listened.”

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale called on Ms Sturgeon to take responsibility for a decade of broken promises and budget cuts.</s>A BILL for a second independence referendum will be published by the Scottish Government within days, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The First Minister said the move is necessary so Scots can reconsider the issue in light of the vote for Brexit and "to do so before the UK leaves the EU".

She told delegates at the SNP conference in Glasgow that an Independence Referendum Bill is to be published for consultation by her Government next week.
• Angus Robertson is elected deputy leader of the SNP in a convincing win over his rivals

She also used her opening speech to send a firm message to UK Prime Minister Theresa May, telling her: "If you think for one single second that I'm not serious about doing what it takes to protect Scotland's interests, then think again.

"If you can't - or won't - allow us to protect our interests within the UK, then Scotland will have the right to decide, afresh, if it wants to take a different path."

Almost two-thirds of Scots voted to Remain part of the European Union, and Sturgeon told Tory leader May: "Scotland didn't choose to be in this situation - your party put us here."

While Scots rejected independence in the referendum in September 2014, the SNP leader said in the run-up to that vote Westminster leaders had insisted Scotland was "an equal partner in the UK".

But in the wake of the European referendum in June, she said the moment has now come to prove it.
• Nicola Sturgeon vows to put a brake on hard Brexit to stop Tories' 'ugly vision' blighting Scotland's future

Sturgeon told the conference: "I am determined that Scotland will have the ability to reconsider the question of independence - and to do so before the UK leaves the EU - if that is necessary to protect our country's interests.

"So I can confirm today that the Independence Referendum Bill will be published for consultation next week."

Meanwhile, bookies rate the chances of a second Independence Referendum before the end of 2024 as odds on and are offering just 1/3 on another vote with 9/4 available for those who don't believe it will happen.

However, they are less sure of the outcome with the book evenly split with William Hill offering odds of 10/11 that the vote will be in favour of Independence and the same odds that it will be against.
• SNP blast Tories for their 'xenophobic language' and claim it has left most people totally disgusted
Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon will introduce a bill launching a new referendum to determine the final status of the country.