Nicola Sturgeon says she will ‘restart’ debate on Scottish independence in coming weeks

Remarks from the SNP leader came as party prepares to publish findings on economic policy options for an independent Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon has said she will “restart” the debate on Scottish independence in the coming weeks.

The comments from the SNP leader came as her party prepares to publish its economic growth commission, presenting its findings on economic policy options for an independent Scotland.

She said the commission, set up in 2016 and chaired by the former SNP MSP Andrew Wilson, would offer the opportunity for a debate on Scotland’s future based on “ambition and hope”.

Ms Sturgeon added that she would consider the timing of a second vote on independence in autumn, when the UK has some “clarity” about the Brexit outcome and the future UK-EU relationship.

In the aftermath of the EU referendum in 2016 after Scotland voted to Remain inside the bloc, the SNP leader had said a second independence referendum was “highly likely”. In 2017, she then called for a fresh vote.

But her demands were dramatically scaled back in the wake of last year’s snap general election, after her party suffered a string of defeats and lost 21 seats from the 56 they won at the 2015 election.

Asked about the timing of a second independence referendum on ITV’s “Peston on Sunday”, Ms Sturgeon said: “Once we get some clarity, which hopefully we will in the autumn of this year, about the Brexit outcome and the future relationship between the UK and the EU then I will consider again this question of the timing of an independence referendum.

She continued: ”I'm not going to say more about that in advance of that moment arising.

“But of course over the next couple of weeks we will, I suppose, restart a debate about why independence for Scotland is an opportunity and what those opportunities are.”

Referring to the publication of the commission’s report, she added: “I think that’s quite an important moment, because if you think about the last couple of years in the UK it has been very much a debate about how we cope with the damage of Brexit.

“What I think Scotland now has the opportunity to do is look at how we seize the opportunities that lie ahead, so a debate based very much on ambition and hope not a debate that's based on despair, which is how the Brexit debate so often feels.”

However, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said the report demonstrated that the union “remains under threat”.

Writing in the Financial Times, she claimed that it was “unlikely” that the latest drive would be met with enthusiasm, but warned against “complacency” and “indifference”.

“As long as our future relationship with the EU is in flux, it would be foolish to assume that the current trends on Scotland remaining in the UK will hold and that the threat of separation has gone away,” Ms Davidson said.

“The SNP is in power north of the border and will use that clout to drive a wedge between Scotland and the rest of the country. So we unionists must work hard to bolster our case for the union.”

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard added: “The idea that a separate Scotland would seek to use the pound without a central bank behind it is a recipe for instability and is the economics of dereliction. We would give up our say over interest rate policy, exchange rate policy and inflation.

“Scotland does not need, and the people of Scotland do not want, this tired argument again. The SNP should recognise that, and focus instead on jobs, schools and hospitals.”