#ScotRef aims to raise £1m within 100 days

THE SNP is on course to raise £1 million in 100 days to fight the next referendum.

Within minutes of Nicola Sturgeon announcing plans for a second vote, a website promoted by her husband, the SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, went live asking for donations.

Last night, it had already received more than £120,000 in pledges.

The SNP also launched a video of Ms Sturgeon on social media asking people to sign a pledge in support of a referendum at the ref.scot site.

The website was created on March 2, undermining Ms Sturgeon’s claim to be still seeking a compromise with the UK Government on Brexit.

Registration documents show it was set up by Christian Jones, the “data and tech lead” at the SNP. A Whitehall source said the website showed SNP talks with Westminster had been “a complete charade”.

The online operation hints at the scale of the party’s advance planning, and shows how Mrs Sturgeon and Mr Murrell hope to frame the campaign on their terms.

Keen to avoid the impression that the next vote will be a rehash of the last, the site encourages people to use the #ScotRef hashtag on social media rather than #Indyref2, which is now frowned upon by SNP HQ.

It also shows the SNP want the question on the ballot paper to be posed as a choice between Yes for independence and No for the Union, as in 2014.

Some of the material available for downloading by activists includes the phrases “I’m backing Yes”, “I’m (now) backing Yes” and “I’m (still) backing Yes”. Other material on the ref.scot website includes one of Ms Sturgeon’s favourite rhetorical questions since the Brexit vote: “What kind of country do we want to be?”