Nicola Sturgeon wants to meet new PM for indyref2 talks

Nicola Sturgeon has said she wants to meet the next prime minister for talks over her plan to hold an independence referendum next year.

The first minister said she would potentially be willing to compromise on some of the details of the plan.

But she said whoever replaces Boris Johnson would have no democratic endorsement from Scotland.

Mr Johnson has repeatedly said that now is not the time for another vote on independence.

And he has argued that the result of the last referendum in 2014 - when voters backed remaining in the UK by 55% to 45% - should be respected.

None of the candidates in the race to succeed him have shown any signs that they are likely to take a different approach.

Speaking as she launched the latest in a series of papers making the case for independence, Ms Sturgeon predicted that the UK government would "shift even further to the right" regardless of who the next prime minister is when the result is announced on 5 September.

She claimed that this could lead to a "race to the bottom" on issues such as tax, cuts to public services, support for families and Brexit.

Ms Sturgeon added: "Not once in my entire lifetime have the Tories won a majority, or even a plurality of seats in Scotland. Yet for around two thirds of my lifetime Scotland has had Tory prime ministers and policies. That is not democracy."

She argued that independence was the only way to end the "starker than ever" democratic deficit in Scotland.

Mr Johnson rejected her call for another referendum to be held on 19 October 2023 shortly before being forced to announce he would be standing down as prime minister.

The first minister said her preferred option was still for the two governments to come together to agree a process, as happened before the 2014 referendum, and said she would potentially be willing to compromise on some of the details.

She said: "If the new prime minister is open to that, I will be open to sitting down, and in a spirit of compromise, seeking to come to an agreement."

But she added: "I'm not going to allow Scottish democracy to be the prisoner of a UK prime minister."

Ms Sturgeon had earlier said that "a prime minister with no democratic endorsement from Scotland is about to be replaced by yet another prime minister that Scotland hasn't voted for - and wouldn't vote for even if we were given the chance.

"All Scotland ever hears from UK politicians these days is democracy denial. They trade opinions on how many years it should be before Westminster might 'allow' us to make a democratic choice about our own future.

"Parties and policies that we reject are to be forced upon us - but the democratic right to choose an alternative is to be denied to us".

And she accused Labour of "teaming up with the Tories to frustrate the will of the Scottish people".

The first paper in the series was published last month. It was described as a "scene setter", with the latest document making the "democratic case" for independence.

Subsequent papers will look at areas including currency, tax and spend, defence, social security and pensions, EU membership and trade.

There is pragmatism behind the politics from Nicola Sturgeon here.

She is clear that she is no fan of any of the Tory leadership candidates, and that she doesn't think Scots would endorse any of them as prime minister.

But equally, she would love to be able to thrash out a deal with whoever ends up in Downing Street, for an agreed referendum in the style of 2014.

She does not hold all the cards on the process side of independence, and her backup plans of going to court or seeking to use a general election as a "de facto" plebiscite are fraught with difficulty.

If the opportunity arose, she would grab the chance to enter talks and negotiate a way forward - even if it meant compromising on details.

Anything would be better than the brick wall Boris Johnson has thrown up.

But equally, none of the candidates are likely to want to plunge into a campaign at the very beginning of their time in office, alongside all of the other pressures they face.

So even if she is still expecting another flat "no", Ms Sturgeon will hold out hope for a deal - and knows that looking reasonable in the face of intractable opposition will only help her cause.

Ms Sturgeon has asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether Holyrood has the powers to hold a referendum if the UK government continues to refuse to give the formal consent that was put in place ahead of the last referendum in 2014.

The Scottish government's top law officer, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, has already said she "does not have the necessary degree of confidence" that it does.

And the UK government has urged judges to throw out the case, arguing that there is not yet any legislation for them to rule on and that it is clear that issues relating to the constitution are reserved to Westminster.

If the Scottish government wins the case, Ms Sturgeon intends to quickly introduce and pass a referendum bill at Holyrood that would allow a vote to happen in October of next year.

But if the Supreme Court ruling goes against her, she has said she would use the next election as a "de facto referendum" and attempt to use the result to trigger independence negotiations.

Both the Conservatives and Labour have dismissed this plan - arguing that people would be voting on many different issues in an election, and not just on independence.

And they have said that Ms Sturgeon should be focusing on issues such as the cost of living crisis, health and education rather than another referendum.

Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Donald Cameron said the first minister "knows the vast majority of people in Scotland don't want another divisive independence referendum next year".

He added: "They want her government focused on tackling the global cost-of-living crisis, helping our NHS to get through the ever-increasing backlogs in treatment and supporting our post-pandemic recovery.

"Yet, instead of getting on with the job at hand, she is using her official residence to spout SNP propaganda, which will only paralyse Scotland with years of bitter division and distraction.

"The nationalists are typically only interested in standing up for the democratic rights of those who agree with them."

Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said the first minister's "increasingly desperate attacks" on Labour were a "tell-tale sign that her worst fear is a Labour government booting out the Tories out of office and building a better UK for everyone".

Ms Boyack said: "When people across Scotland are crying out for help with the cost of living crisis, precious government time and energy is being poured into the SNP's endless attempts to whip up division.

"The last paper was nothing but fantasy economics and baseless promises of jam tomorrow, without a shred of clarity on the unanswered questions plaguing the SNP's reckless plans or any attempt to use the powers they have now."

According to polling expert Prof Sir John Curtice, recent polls have - on average - put support for independence at 48%, with 52% against, once "don't know" votes are excluded.