Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

First Minister to lay out independence referendum plans

Post Thumbnail

Alex Salmond will publish his much anticipated consultation on the Scottish independence referendum today.

The First Minister will outline his proposals for the crunch constitutional vote planned for autumn 2014 in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon.

The statement follows weeks of speculation and angry debate over the form of the ballot, which has been described as the biggest decision Scots will make in 300 years.

The publication of the consultation will again cast the Scottish constitutional question into the international media spotlight, with newspapers and broadcasters from around the world expected to attend a press conference in Edinburgh Castle.

Mr Salmond told an audience in London on Tuesday evening that an independent Scotland would champion the welfare state and health service and be a ”beacon of progressive opinion” for those in England.

In his first major speech since the referendum debate ignited two weeks ago, he cited free university tuition, free prescriptions and the smoking ban as example’s of Scotland’s approach.

He added: ”That is a far more positive and practical Scottish contribution to progressive policy than sending a tribute of Labour MPs to Westminster to have the occasional turn at the Westminster tiller particularly as the opposition’s policy is increasingly converging with that of the coalition on the key issues of the economy and public spending.”

But Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont said Mr Salmond should implement progressive ideals in Scotland. ”The future of the United Kingdom is about more than David Cameron versus Alex Salmond and conservatism versus nationalism.”

The proposed referendum has been a source of conflict between the Scottish and UK governments, with Westminster insisting any attempt to co-ordinate the poll from Edinburgh would be illegal.

However, Scottish Secretary Michael Moore has offered to transfer the power to the Scottish Parliament if certain conditions are met.

Today’s statement will give more detail on the SNP’s preferred vision for the referendum, including details on when it will be held, how many questions there will be and who will be allowed to vote.

The Courier revealed last week that the consultation document will include a proposal for the ballot to be held on a Saturday in a bid to increase voter turnout. It is understood a date for the vote will not be revealed until actual legislation is lodged with the Scottish Parliament.

Today’s document is also expected to confirm the SNP administration’s preference for a single vote on independence, but willingness to include a further question on the possibility of further devolution.

Hotly debated topics such as the voting age and whether or not the electoral commission should oversee the arrangements will also be addressed.

Mr Moore will meet Mr Salmond on Friday to discuss the referendum. He said: ”The Scottish Government have shed more light on their referendum plans in the past two weeks then they did in the previous two years.”