Independence referendum issue not to be revisited this year

Nicola Sturgeon has signalled she will not update the country on her independence referendum plans until next year.

The first minister hoped to outline a timetable last month for a new breakaway vote, but says she was forced to delay due to the lack of clarity on Brexit.

The SNP leader said there would be too little time after the Commons vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal to revisit the independence question before Christmas.

Predicting a defeat for the prime minister on December 11 and a follow-up vote the week after, Ms Sturgeon said she is “not entirely in control of the timescale” that would allow her to lay out her Indyref2 strategy.

She told journalists at Bute House: “I’m not sure anybody would welcome it if I asked you all to come here on Christmas Eve to make a major statement about Scotland’s constitutional future.

“But I will make that statement at the time I think is right, not just for the Scottish Government or the SNP, but right for the people of Scotland.

“I think it’s only fair if we’re asking the people of Scotland to consider the question of independence, we give them as much clarity as we possibly can.”

The Glasgow MSP added that Scotland being taken out of the EU against its will and economic interests made the case for independence stronger.

Jackson Carlaw, the stand-in Scottish Conservative leader, said: “Nicola Sturgeon is playing politics with Brexit; Theresa May is getting on with Brexit.

“The Scottish Conservatives – and more and more Scots – back Theresa May, not Nicola Sturgeon and her political games.”