‘No-one in 2014 voted to be dragged out of the EU’

A new case for Scottish independence is more vital then ever as the threat of a “no deal” Brexit grows, SNP deputy leader Keith Brown has said.

The party is to hold a second “National Assembly” event in Aviemore to discuss the recent Sustainable Growth Commission report which revised the economic case for leaving the UK after the recent North Sea decline and Brexit.

Opponents said strict public spending rules in the report could mean years of austerity and have branded it a “Cuts Commission”. But Mr Brown said: “No-one voted in 2014 for Scotland to be dragged out of the European Union against our will. No-one voted in 2014 for Scotland to be poorer, for our public services to suffer, or for our businesses and people to be cut off from their customers and friends in Europe.

“This is what the UK government’s no deal Brexit threatens. A fresh case for independence is more vital than ever – and that is what we are working on at the National Assemblies.”

But Labour deputy leader Lesley Laird said: “We know from the SNP’S Cuts Commission plan that Nicola Sturgeon’s vision for our country is even more austerity, more cuts to our lifeline services and more pain for working people and their families.

“The change that the people of Scotland need is not another independence referendum which will create more division.”