Nicola Sturgeon press conference LIVE as First Minister to kickstart independence campaign

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Nicola Sturgeon will lay out her plans to hold another independence referendum by end of next year later today. The First Minister is set to publish plans through a series of papers on the benefits of ending the union.

A press conference will be held later this morning with Scottish Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie in Bute House, Edinburgh.

Sturgeon and her SNP /Green government have pledged to hold a referendum by the end of 2023. Speaking ahead of the launch Sturgeon said: "The Building a New Scotland series will set out openly the challenges a newly independent Scotland would face, how they could be overcome as well as the opportunities that come with independence - as demonstrated by the success of comparable independent nations as well as our own resources and talents."The announcement has been met with opposition from pro-UK parties with the Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton urging Sturgeon to get on with fixing the NHS, the cost of living crisis and the climate emergency.He said: "This coalition is about one thing and one thing only.

Ministers are devoting their attention, top civil servants and tens of millions of pounds to independence." To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here. Labour constitution spokeswoman Sarah Boyack said that while people were "struggling to put food on the table during the worst cost of living crisis in a decade" the SNP and Greens were focusing on "their constitutional obsession".Boyack said: "We should be working together to tackle the cost of living crisis now - but instead the SNP-Green government want to tear us apart."This is an appalling waste of time, energy and money when our public services are being cut to the bone."Far from