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Nicola Sturgeon opened the proceedings of the congress, this year celebrated virtually on the occasion of covid-19 and dedicated to the question “who should choose the future of Scotland?”.
Nicola Sturgeon’s statements go in the same direction as those he recently gave to the BBC, in which he did not rule out that the independence consultation was “at the beginning of the new legislature, in May 2021.”
The SNP celebrates this 86th annual conference with the support of the polls for the next regional elections, which will be held on May 6 next year and which Nicola Sturgeon considers “the most important elections in Scottish democracy”.
Since May, according to various polls, the “yes” option has dominated Scottish society, reaching a historical record of 58% of the population in favor, according to IPSO Mori in October.
In the independence referendum, held in 2014, the “no” won, with 55.3% of the votes, compared to 44.7% of the “yes”.
However, there is no “plan b” to avoid the UK’s veto on the independence issue.
“The conference could have been more interesting, but the motions that were put forward for discussion were rejected by the party leadership,” said Angus MacNeil, MP for the Hebrides in Westminster, criticizing the absence of an internal debate on policies for the conduct of the new referendum.
The National Executive Committee refused to host this discussion on how to face a possible “no” in London, claiming the virtual logistics in which it takes place. Instead, there will be a National Assembly, convened by the party’s vice president, Keith Brown, on January 21.
The Boris Johnson executive twice this year refused to hold a new referendum, first in early 2020, when Sturgeon requested the transfer of powers of section 30 of the 1998 Scottish Treaty, and later when Scotland’s secretary of state Alister Jack said in an interview with the BBC that it would not happen “for the next 25 or 40 years”.
