The Scotsman: “Revealing her Programme for Government, Nicola Sturgeon put independence at the top of the list of her priorities – but there will be no referendum bill brought to the Scottish Parliament this year. Instead, Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government ‘will now restart work on the detailed prospectus’ that will be put to Scots if a referendum campaign is launched. Addressing MSPs she said: ‘As we emerge from the pandemic, choices fall to be made that will shape our economy and society for decades to come. Which Parliament – Westminster or Holyrood – should make these choices? And what principles will they be guided by?'”

‘These are questions which cannot be avoided, nor postponed until the die is already cast. So we intend to offer that choice. We will do so only when the Covid crisis has passed but our aim, Covid permitting, is that it will be in the first half of this Parliament – before the end of 2023. Crucially, we will ensure that the choice – when it comes – is a fully informed one. To that end, I can confirm that the Scottish Government will now restart work on the detailed prospectus that will guide the decision.’ In the publication on the Programme for Government, produced on Tuesday, the government claimed the reason for a second referendum lay in the ‘threat’ to devolution from Westminster. It states: ‘Successive UK Governments, in particular since the EU referendum, have not only undermined the devolution settlement but are now actively re‑writing it without the consent of the people of Scotland.'”