Sturgeon Says Independence Could Give Scotland More Stability Than Brexit

    "It may well be the option that offers us the greatest certainty, stability, and the maximum control over our own destiny is that of independence," the first minister said.

    Independence could offer Scotland more "stability and certainty" than staying within the UK as it exits the European Union, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

    Speaking in Edinburgh one month on from the EU referendum result, the first minister reflected on David Cameron's "reckless" decision to hold the referendum and condemned a "shameful abdication of responsibility" from Leave campaigners since 23 June.

    Sturgeon said the Scottish government will explore all options to protect Scotland's relationship with the EU, including ones that include staying within the UK, but warned that in the face of the uncertainty of leaving the EU, people in Scotland may decide independence is the safest option.

    "In seeking to chart a way forward for Scotland, independence is not my starting point," she said. "Protecting Scotland’s interests is my starting point, and I’m determined to explore all options to do that. But I’m equally clear about this: If we find our interests can’t be protected in a UK context, independence must be one of those options and Scotland must have the right to consider that option."

    She conceded that Scotland becoming independent would "not be straightforward" and would bring both challenges and possibilities, but will set out to convince Scottish voters that independence would lessen the "upheaval" that would follow the triggering of Article 50 – which would begin the process of the UK leaving the EU.

    "The UK we voted to stay part of in 2014 is fundamentally changing," said Sturgeon. "The outlook for the UK is uncertainty, upheaval, and unpredictability. In these circumstances it may well be the option that offers us the greatest certainty, stability, and the maximum control over our own destiny is that of independence."

    Although Sturgeon said she accepts some responsibility for failing to convince a UK majority to vote to stay in, she added that she still feels "contempt" for the Leave campaign, which she believes had "given succour to the racism and intolerance of the far right", and condemned the actions of UK leaders since June 23.

    "The absence of any leadership and the lack of any advanced planning both from the politicians who proposed the referendum, and from those who campaigned for a leave vote, surely must count as one of the most shameful abdications of responsibility in modern political history," said Sturgeon.

    The first minister welcomed the sympathetic words of new prime minister Theresa May – who has said she would listen to options brought forward by the Scottish government to retain Scotland's EU membership – but criticised May's much-used phrase "Brexit means Brexit" as a soundbite that "masks" a lack of clear direction.

    "I welcome very much the prime minister’s commitment in Edinburgh just over a week ago that different options we bring forward will be considered and Article 50 will not be triggered until there’s agreement on an overall UK position," said Sturgeon.

    "We need to set out in detail the manner in which the Scottish government will be involved in the development of the UK position ahead of Article 50 being invoked, and the mechanism for ensuring meaningful assessment of the options we bring forward."

    The first minister added that is was a possibility, as suggested by of first minister of Wales Carwyn Jones, that all four parliaments in the UK could have a say on the decision to invoke Article 50.

    "We must also be clear about whatever the involvement of the other UK administrations will be in the political decision to invoke Article 50," said Sturgeon. "Not just in the evidence gathering and consultation to inform that decision, but in the actual decision itself."

    Responding to Sturgeon's speech, Scottish Labour's Europe spokesperson, Lewis Macdonald, said: "People in Scotland voted to remain in both the UK and the EU, and everything should be done to deliver on that mandate. Labour is the only party that supports delivering what the people of Scotland voted for."