Investment of £20bn will be delivered in the first decade of Scottish independence, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
The First Minister addressed delegates as she closed her party's conference in Aberdeen yesterday, giving a glimpse into proposals that will be set out in an upcoming paper from the Scottish Government.
The third report in its Building a New Scotland document series will be released next week and will focus on economic issues.
A Building a New Scotland Fund will be set up with remaining oil revenues and the use of borrowing powers in order to “kick-start the sustainable economic growth so important for our newly independent nation”, Sturgeon said.
“A fund like this could support a massive programme to decarbonise housing, cut fuel bills and reduce fuel poverty.
“It could finance the building of thousands more affordable homes, invest in local renewable energy projects, helping communities own assets and wield more influence over their use.
“It will help the transition to net zero, build resilient communities, and kick-start the sustainable economic growth so important for our newly independent nation.”
Sturgeon told delegates that independence will create a “partnership of equals” in the UK, and said the nations of the UK and the Republic of Ireland will “always be the closest of friends, always be family”.
But she took a swipe at the UK Government for “utterly failing” in its duty to mitigate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.
Sturgeon told the conference: “When global turbulence strikes, national governments have a duty to act in ways that mitigate - rather than exacerbate - the impacts on their own populations.
“When it comes to the cost-of-living crisis, and so much else besides, this UK Government is utterly failing in that duty.”
Sturgeon also told the conference that she intends on being First Minister “for quite some time yet”.
She was the final speaker at the three-day event in Aberdeen, which came after she was criticised for saying she “detests” Tories.
After making her comments to the BBC, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi described the language as “dangerous”.
Other than in the First Minister’s speech, just one announcement was made throughout the conference, with the SNP planning to launch a podcast called Scotland’s Voices, announced by depute leader Keith Brown on Saturday.
Meanwhile, judges at the UK Supreme Court are to begin hearing arguments in a case which could allow the Scottish Parliament to legislate for a second referendum on independence.
The panel of five justices will start hearing evidence from the Scottish Government today.
Two days have been set aside for the hearing at the Supreme Court in London, with the UK Government expected to respond on Wednesday.
The case concerns proposed legislation at the Scottish Parliament called the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill.
Judges have been asked to decide whether the Bill relates to “reserved matters” – meaning it is outwith Holyrood’s competence.
Sturgeon asked the Lord Advocate, Scotland’s chief law officer, to refer the Bill to the Supreme Court when she published the legislation in June.
This was in order to head off any legal challenge from her opponents, with the First Minister saying she wanted an “indisputably lawful” referendum to take place.
The UK Government, represented in the court by the Advocate General, is opposed to a second referendum.
The Advocate General has argued in written submissions that a referendum plainly relates to reserved matters and is outside Holyrood’s legislative competence.
He has also asked the court to rule on whether it has jurisdiction to hear the case, saying the Bill has not yet been introduced to the Scottish Parliament.
At the weekend, the First Minister spoke to journalists about the upcoming case while attending the SNP conference in Aberdeen.
Asked if she was confident the Supreme Court will grant Holyrood the ability to hold a second referendum, Sturgeon said: “I am very hopeful and optimistic of that.
“But anybody who knows anything about court hearings would know that there’s not a lot of point trying to second-guess a court or speculate about the court’s outcome.”
The five Supreme Court judges who will hear the case are Lord Reed, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Sales, Lord Stephens and Lady Rose.
While there is no set time for the judgment to be issued, it could be weeks or months away.
Lord Hope, a former deputy president of the Supreme Court, has suggested such a decision could take six to eight weeks.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “There is a substantial majority in the Scottish Parliament in favour of an independence referendum and therefore a clear democratic mandate.
“However, as the First Minister has set out, there remains debate over whether the Scottish Parliament has the powers to legislate to hold a referendum.
“Referring this question to the Supreme Court is intended to achieve legal clarity on this point.
“The Scottish Government hopes that a referendum will be deemed to be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and that is now a matter for the Supreme Court to decide.”
A UK Government spokesman said: “People across Scotland want both their governments to be working together, focusing on the issues that matter to them, not talking about another independence referendum.
“On the question of legislative competence, the UK Government’s clear view remains that a bill legislating for a referendum on independence would be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.
“We will set out our arguments in full at the Supreme Court hearing.”
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