Nicola Sturgeon Backs New Independence Referendum If 'Evidence' Supports It
Nicola Sturgeon has insisted she would have no right to rule out holding a second independence referendum if polls produce "strong and consistent'' evidence that the majority of Scots want to leave the UK.
The Scottish First Minister said she respected the result of last year's ballot, which saw voters reject independence by 55% to 45%.
She warned David Cameron that cuts from Westminster, together with the planned renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent and other factors, could see support for independence rise.
Two polls since last September's referendum have suggested a majority of Scots want to exit the Union.
With support for the SNP continuing to grow, there has been constant speculation about when a new vote on the issue could take place.
Ms Sturgeon said: "To propose another referendum in the next parliament without strong evidence that a significant number of those who voted No have changed their minds would be wrong and we won't do it.
"It would not be respecting the decision that people made.''
But the SNP leader added: "Over the next few years, as the Tories impose even deeper cuts, press ahead with Trident renewal and fail to honour in full the vow of more powers for our Parliament, I think support for independence will continue to rise.
"So let me also be clear about this. If there is strong and consistent evidence that people have changed their minds and that independence has become the choice of a clear majority in this country, then we have no right to rule out a referendum and we won't do that either.
"No one has the right to stand in the way of democracy.''
She spoke out as she addressed the SNP conference in Aberdeen - the largest gathering the party has ever staged.
With the Conservative government planning to stage a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, the First Minister warned that if Scotland was removed from the EU "against our democratic wishes'' on the basis of votes in England, that demand for another ballot on independence could be "unstoppable''.
She sent a direct message to the Prime Minister, saying: "Let me say this to David Cameron. Last year, you told the Scottish people that the only way to protect our EU membership was to vote No. It was one of the central issues of your campaign.
"If you try to take Scotland out of the EU against our democratic wishes, you will be breaching the terms of last year's vote.
"And, in those circumstances, you may well find that the demand for a second independence referendum is unstoppable.''
But with the SNP aiming to win an historic third term in office at Holyrood in less than seven months time, much of Ms Sturgeon's speech was focused on the upcoming Scottish elections.
She pledged the SNP would "set out radical, ambitious and progressive policies to make this country even stronger''.
As part of that she promised that an SNP government would build at least 50,000 affordable new homes over the next parliamentary term if it wins in May - of which approximately 35,000 would be new council or housing association properties.
No party has ever won a third term in office in the devolved Scottish Parliament, but Ms Sturgeon told SNP delegates: "If we are re-elected next May, our target in the next parliament will be to build at least 50,000 new affordable homes.
"That commitment - worth more than ÂŁ3 billion - is a mark of the ambition we have for this country.
"Ambition for Scotland and for everyone who lives here will be the hallmark of our campaign for re-election.''
While the SNP has "record approval ratings in the polls'' in Scotland, Ms Sturgeon insisted her party would "campaign harder than we have ever done to win''.