Immediately after the Brexit vote Nicola Surgeon declared that a second independence referendum was “highly likely”, and logically should fall inside the two-year Article 50 withdrawal period.
It was a statement made amid little sleep and high emotion, but, rightly, she has never backed down.
Instead, she has moved ever more pieces onto the chessboard. Sturgeon has asked SNP members to contact two million voters by St Andrew’s Day, announced a draft referendum bill, and repeatedly warned of the dire economic consequences facing Scotland if we lose our membership of the European Union.
Today she cites Brexit as the ultimate example of Scotland’s “democratic deficit”.
It has been clear for some time that there has been a re-thinking of tactics by the SNP, a marking of time in the march to independence. But that pause is at an end. The trajectory is now clear enough. She and her party will re-focus on their raison d'etre: the core issue of self-governance for Scotland to counter the democratic deficit.
And this is where the real debate has to be argued out. Winning the argument over self-governance will involve providing compelling answers to the issues which defeated the campaign two years ago today, on the currency, oil and the economy.
These are difficult issues, but one fundamental truth remains: Brexit is an affront in terms of democracy in Scotland, and no nation can continue with a political status quo which offends democratic principles. As this paper has said before, in the light of Brexit, independence for Scotland is the only answer.
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