Draft bill for indyref2 published

Draft legislation for the holding of a second independence referendum has been published by the Scottish Government.

The SNP want to hold indyref2 after the pandemic but "in the first half of the new parliamentary term".

And the party says it will attempt to pass the bill if May's election returns a majority of MSPs who back independence.

The legislation proposes using the same yes or no question as in 2014, with the poll date to be decided by MSPs.

But there is no firm commitment to any date for the poll, with the bill stating that this is a decision "for the next Scottish Parliament to take".

Announcing the publication of the draft bill, Constitution Secretary Mike Russell said the immediate priority would be "dealing with the pandemic and keeping the country safe".

Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats have declared their opposition to the bill.