What is the democratic route to Scotland becoming an independent country?
For me - and I would hope even for people who don’t support independence - that is by a majority of voters in Scotland making clear in a referendum that we want to become independent.
But for some reason an awful lot of anti-independence politicians have been struggling to answer this question recently.
Since time immemorial, we’ve been told that the UK is a voluntary union of nations.
What is now clear - following the judgement from the Supreme Court - is that it is not.
The court was asked to consider whether the Scottish Parliament can legislate for an independence referendum without the prior agreement of Westminster.
This question only arises because - despite a clear mandate for a vote to take place following last year’s election - the UK Government repeatedly refuses to reach such an agreement, as they did ahead of the 2014 referendum.
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Let’s remember that the Supreme Court doesn’t make law - it interprets and applies it. And while the outcome is not what I would have hoped for, I respect it.
It gives everybody clarity, and it is better to have that clarity sooner rather than later.
But it raises profound questions about the nature of the UK. A so-called partnership in which one partner is denied the right to choose a different future - or even ask itself the question - cannot be described in any way as voluntary or even a partnership at all.
We stand ready to work with the UK Government to reach an agreement to enable a lawful, democratic referendum to take place - but it looks certain in the short-term that they will continue refusing.
That is not a good look for them.
The more contempt the Westminster establishment shows for Scottish democracy, the more certain it is that Scotland will vote Yes when the choice does come to be made.
Indeed, a poll out last week - the first to be conducted since the Supreme Court decision - found that support for independence had surged and was now four points ahead of the No vote.
The SNP will now consider our next steps in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling. We are not abandoning the referendum route - Westminster is blocking it - and we are certainly not giving up on democracy.
If a referendum remains blocked, the other democratic, lawful and constitutional means by which the Scottish people can express our will is through an election.
The next national election scheduled for Scotland is the UK General Election, making it the first opportunity to seek what I described back in June as a de facto referendum.
However, it is now for the SNP to consider and decide the best way forward to demonstrate majority support in Scotland for independence, so that we can then achieve independence.
The detail for that proposal will be worked out in the coming weeks. But as we consider that, we must also consider why independence is becoming ever more important.
It is not an abstract discussion. Nor is it a discussion that can wait.
The UK economy is in crisis. On a range of indicators, it is lagging behind neighbouring comparable countries.
We have a Tory Government - which Scotland didn’t vote for - ushering in a new age of austerity, which will be disastrous for the economy and public services.
The Tories’ ideologically-driven immigration policy is leading to skills shortages right across the economy.
Brexit - which is now of course fully supported by the Labour party - has already done significant economic damage, and will leave the UK permanently poorer.
Scotland didn’t vote for any of this. Just as Westminster wishes to deny us a say over our constitutional future, we have been landed with a Tory Government and a damaging Brexit that we did not vote for.
It doesn’t need to be like this. The example of the comparable countries neighbouring Scotland - wealthier, fairer and more productive than we are as part of the UK, even without our enormous resources - proves what we can achieve with the powers of independence.
The Scottish Government is setting out a detailed blueprint for how an independent Scotland could thrive under a new economic model.
That model would be based on our abundant renewable energy resources, a new social partnership approach, greater workplace rights, a migration policy tailored to our needs and membership of the EU in our own right, with access to a single market which, by population, is seven times the size of the UK.
We’ve set out plans for a £20bn investment fund, in part using the oil revenues that will remain while we make the transition away from fossil fuels, to kick-start growth in a newly independent country.
There are no guarantees of success, and it will take hard work to deliver that success – but it will be worth it.
And the more we compare what Scotland’s future could be with independence with what it will almost certainly will look like under continued Westminster control, the more we see why Westminster is terrified of allowing people in Scotland a choice between the two.
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