Nicola Sturgeon announces independence referendum Bill plan in the 'middle of a pandemic'

Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of living in a "bubble" after unveiling plans in the middle of a pandemic for another independence referendum while doing little more to stem a wave of imminent job losses.

Unveiling her Programme for Government for the coming year, Holyrood's version of Westminster's Queen's Speech, the First Minister said she would publish a draft Referendum Bill with a ballot paper question and timetable.

She said she would then seek a "clear endorsement" for another separation vote in next May's Holyrood election, with polls suggesting she is on course for a landslide victory.

Boris Johnson would come under intense political pressure to drop his opposition to handing Ms Sturgeon the powers to stage a legal vote, amid concerns blocking it would drive up support for separation.

But the new Scottish Tory leader castigated Ms Sturgeon for publishing independence legislation "in the middle of a pandemic", with Scotland facing a tidal wave of job losses.

Douglas Ross said the First Minister "just doesn't get it" and "needs to leave the Holyrood bubble and get back into the real world, where people are fearful of losing their jobs".

Business leaders welcomed an array of longer-term financial measures in the programme, including a £100 million Green Jobs Fund, but warned it lacked the urgency required to help companies on the brink of collapse.

Andrew McRae, the Federation of Small Businesses' Scotland policy chair, said: "Our big concern is that few of these initiatives will kick in overnight and at least some businesses are reaching the end of the road."

Liz Cameron, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce chief executive, also praised the blueprint's "ambitious aims" but said: "We need to ensure equal amounts of energy and investment are focused on the survival of our businesses now as well as into the future.”

Tracy Black, CBI Scotland's director, warned that the furlough scheme winding up next month meant "speed is of the essence". She added: "There isn't a moment to lose."

However, Ms Sturgeon argued the emphasis was on the Chancellor to extend the scheme, saying it would be "unconscionable" to allow "otherwise viable businesses" to go under.

Among the other major announcements in her speech was a review of the care sector, which will examine the creation of a National Care Service.

Coronavirus claimed the lives of at least 1,950 residents after hundreds of hospital patients were transferred into the facilities, including more than 1,000 who were not tested and at least 37 who had previously tested positive.

Jeane Freeman, the Scottish Health Secretary, later told parliament the "vital" review would produce its first report by January, to allow the next parliament to "take any steps necessary - legislative or otherwise - to put in place the reforms our adult care sector needs".

Ms Sturgeon also announced of a proximity tracing app later this month to track down contacts of those infected with the virus.

She said the Protect Scotland app would tell people if they have "been exposed to someone who has tested positive - even if you don’t know them and they don’t know you".

Video GP consultations are to become the "default option", she also said, and a new centre created to support firms and employees to continue home working indefinitely.

Her programme was published against the backdrop of official figures published showing Scotland's economy suffered one of the deepest recessions in Europe during lockdown and has bounced back far more slowly than the UK's.

Ms Sturgeon used her address to announce training funding for 10,000 people facing redundancy and a guarantee to ensure every young person get access work, education or training.

The First Minister also unveiled plans for a £100 million Green Jobs Fund over the next five years and an inward investment plan to create 100,000 jobs over the next decade.

But she received by far the loudest cheer from her backbenchers over her referendum announcement, which followed a series of polls showing a small majority of Scots now support separation.

"That is why, before the end of this Parliament, we will publish a draft Bill, setting out the proposed terms and timing of an independence referendum, as well as the proposed question that people will be asked in that referendum," she said.

"And then at next year’s election, we will make the case for Scotland to become an independent country, and seek a clear endorsement of Scotland’s right to choose our own future."

Mr Ross, the Moray MP, said: “This was the moment where the First Minister could have put selfish, narrow interests to one side and united the country.

“Instead, we’re told the solution is another Referendum Bill, only this time in the middle of a pandemic."

Ian Murray, Labour's Shadow Scottish Secretary, said: “This reckless announcement from the First Minister shows that her top priority is to divide the people of Scotland.

“All her focus should be on post-Covid recovery, not returning to the old politics of division that will harm Scotland’s society and economy."

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