Nicola Sturgeon pitched independence at the forefront of her campaign to save Scotland’s EU status as she mobilised SNP colleagues to reach out to No voters.
The First Minister launched the “biggest listening exercise” in the party’s history in a bid to connect with 2 million people in Scotland on the streets, in town hall events and online within three months.
Launching the long-awaited independence drive, Ms Sturgeonn said:”Today, we are launching – as the first phase in our new independence initiative – the biggest listening exercise in our party’s history. It will run from now until St Andrew’s Day.
“We want to understand in detail how people feel now about Europe, Brexit and independence.
“We want to know the concerns that people have and the questions they want answered. We want to build, if we can, a consensus, on the way ahead.”
Ms Sturgeon has previously said indyref2 is “highly likely” – but not the starting point for her government’s efforts to save Scotland’s links with Brussels.
But in a speech in Stirling to her MPs, MSPs and MEPs, she upped the ante for a re-run of the constitutional vote after Theresa May this week advocated a “hard” Brexit.
The Prime Minister has ruled out a Brexit which retained freedom of movement, a key component of the single market.
Ms Sturgeon said it is clear that “hardline Brexiteers really are running the show” in the UK Government.
She said she would not allow Scotland to be taken out of the single market “without a battle”, but predicted that support for independence will be “even higher if it becomes clear that it is the best or only way to protect our interests”.
Ms Sturgeon has previously admitted that there were flaws in the 2014 economic arguments, particularly around currency. She said the debate she starts today will be a new one in radically changed circumstances.
In Tayside and Fife, there will be a minimum of 19 public meetings as she called on every SNP parliamentarian to hold at least one live event to hear what concerns and hopes Scots have.
The SNP’s stated aim in the first stage of the independence drive is to gather “a wealth of information and insight” so as to “inform the next stage of the campaign”.
As well as public events and the online National Survey, the project includes sending all SNP members a pack of survey cards and asking them to interview at least 15 people about their thoughts on independence and Brexit.
A spokesman for the First Minister said no public money was being spent on the campaign, but he refused to say whether any data from the campaign would be published.
Ms Sturgeon also predicted the end of Labour at the speech at the Stirling Court Hotel today, as the party’s civil war rumbles on.
“There is now the real possibility that we are witnessing the end of Labour as a force to be reckoned with in British politics – perhaps the end of the Labour Party full stop,” she said.
The First Minister also sought to prepare the Scottish economy for independence and to enable it to withstand the shocks from Brexit by setting up a new Party Growth Commission, chaired by former MSP Andrew Wilson.
Part of its remit will be to consider how to “grow the economy and reduce Scotland’s deficit to a sustainable level”.
Responding to Ms Sturgeon’s speech, Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson said: “Nicola Sturgeon has shown today that she is prepared to ignore the priorities of the people of Scotland, in pursuit of her own narrow nationalist agenda.
“If she was really listening, she would know that most of us don’t want to go back to another divisive referendum debate – we want Scotland to move on.”
Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader, said the SNP leader was “deciding to drag Scotland back to the arguments of the past” rather than focus on reducing inequality and rebuilding the NHS.
Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Willie Rennie said Ms Sturgeon is the one who should be doing the listening.
“Every day spent on independence is a day the Scottish Government can’t use to make Scotland’s public services the best again,” he said
