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Leader of Scotland's Scottish National Party (SNP), Alex Salmond, holds a copy of the party's 'White Paper' during a news conference in Edinburgh - Source: Reuters -
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Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond published details of a planned referendum on Scottish independence, setting out the case for breaking the 300-year-old union with England.
Salmond, who heads the Scottish National Party (SNP), said only
independence would deliver a 21st century partnership of equals
between Scotland and England.
The White Paper, Your Scotland, Your Voice, paves the way for a
Referendum Bill early next year with a vote in about 12
months.
It sets out a broad range of options, including keeping the status
quo of limited autonomy from Westminster, more devolutionary powers
for Scotland, full devolution with greater fiscal autonomy while
remaining part of the United Kingdom, and independence.
But his minority government faces an uphill struggle to push the
bill through the Scottish Holyrood parliament as all the other main
parties oppose it, saying the country needs to concentrate on
economic recovery.
"The debate in Scottish politics is no longer between change or no
change," Salmond said in a statement.
"It's about the kind of change we seek, and the right of the people
to choose their future in a free and fair referendum."
He said Scotland, which has had devolved government for the past 10
years, needed more powers to tackle the recession.
"The vast majority of people want to expand the responsibility of
the parliament, so that we have more powers to do more for Scotland
- the economic and financial clout to fight recession and support
recovery, the right to speak up for Scotland in Europe, and the
ability to remove Trident nuclear weapons from our soil," Salmond
said.
The First Minister, who before the global financial crisis had
called for an Arc of Prosperity of smaller nations, including
Ireland and Norway, said the White Paper offered the most detailed
case ever for independence.
Salmond said he was flexible over the provisions and wording of a
referendum, the only stipulation being that a vote of independence
had to be included.
If the bill failed, he said the fight for independence would become
a key issue in the next Scottish elections in 2011.
However, if the bill went through and the Scottish public voted
against independence, he would accept that verdict, adding a
referendum is a once in a political generation event.
The SNP, which took power with a minority government in May 2007
narrowly defeating Labour, said polls consistently showed the Scots
wanted more powers.
But a YouGov poll in the Daily Telegraph last week showed 57% of
those who responded would say no to independence.
