SNP ploughs ahead with independence plans as new details to be released

Independence Minister Jamie Hepburn, who first entered the Scottish Parliament in 2007, will set out the SNP’s proposal.

The publication will come just after SNP Constitution Minister Angus Robertson branded Westminster’s attack on devolution as a “self-indulgent waste of taxpayer money”.

Robertson, who served as the SNP’s Westminster leader for 10 years, wrote 16 pages on devolution and lamented his Scottish Conservative opponents.

However, the latest details set to be released on Monday also come after ex-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon published three ‘Building a New Scotland’ papers last year.

The first paper released last year established the economic and social differences between Scotland and other smaller countries.

It attributed Scotland’s bloated deficit to not having control of the levers accessed by other independent nations.

The second paper looked to explore areas where the UK economy languishes behind its European rivals.

Sturgeon’s plans were ultimately scrapped after the Supreme Court ruled Holyrood does not have the power to legislate for a second referendum on Scottish independence.

However, the SNP has found itself in turmoil after several figures were arrested during Police Scotland’s Operation Branchform investigation.

Sturgeon was arrested on Sunday and released without charge pending further enquiries.

The SNP’s money-raising scandal has led to support in Scotland dwindling, with Savanta ComRes giving Humza Yousaf’s grouping just 38 per cent of the vote in a hypothetical Westminster poll.

Labour is quickly re-establishing itself as the leading Unionist party north of the border on 34 per cent.

Tory support is now as low as 17 per cent, down from 25 per cent in 2019.

Despite plummeting confidence in the SNP, opinion polls concerning a second independence referendum remain too close to call.