Sturgeon: Renewables could form basis of Scots economy – bbc.com

Scotland could establish a sustainable new economy based on renewable energy if it becomes independent, Nicola Sturgeon is to claim.

The first minister will set out details of her economic prospectus during her SNP conference speech in Aberdeen.

She will tell delegates that Scotland’s “massive renewable energy resources” could form the basis of a new system.

And she will attack the UK government’s “aggressive unionism” as undermining the very thing it seeks to protect.

The UK government has refused to engage with Ms Sturgeon’s calls for an independence referendum in 2023, something she says is a “denial of democracy”.

Ms Sturgeon has already promised to publish a new paper setting out the economic case for independence in the days following the conference.

This is expected to cover issues including currency and how quickly institutions such as a central bank could be set up.

The SNP leader is expected to tease further details during her party conference speech, including promises to repeal legislation regulating trade unions and expanding the minimum wage to young workers.

She will promise not to lift her government’s effective ban on fracking, and will paint renewable energy as the potential basis for a whole new system.

She will say: “Our economic prospectus will set out how we can build a new, sustainable economy based on our massive renewable energy resources.

“It will show how in an independent Scotland, we can deliver lower energy prices and stronger security of supply.

“With independence we will show how we can break with the low productivity, high inequality Brexit-based UK economy – and use the full powers of independence to build an inclusive, fair wellbeing economy that works for everyone.”

Ms Sturgeon ran into controversy on Sunday after telling the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that “I detest the Tories and everything they stand for”

Conservative minister Nadim Zahawi described this as “dangerous language”, while former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said it “traduced a quarter of the Scottish voting population”.

But Ms Sturgeon later told the BBC she did not regret her choice of words, insisting that she was “referring to Tory policies and values, not individuals or Tory voters”.

She will continue this criticism in Monday’s speech, accusing the UK government of “aggressive unionism” which is undermining the partnership between nations.

She will claim that it is “Westminster’s denial of Scottish democracy, full frontal attacks on devolution and basic lack of respect” which are “causing tension and fraying the bonds between us”.

The Scottish Conservatives said this claim was “incoherent nonsense”, insisting that a referendum was “the wrong priority at the worst possible time”.

Meanwhile Scottish Labour MP Ian Murray said Ms Sturgeon was “right to highlight the Tories’ failure”, but said she had ignored her own government’s “deplorable record over the last 15 years”.

The economy has always been viewed as a pivotal, yet tricky issue in the debate over independence.

But amid market turmoil and UK government u-turns, we have arrived at the point where the SNP feels it might be a campaign asset rather than a challenge to overcome.

The worse the economic outlook under the present system, the more they can present independence as a sensible investment rather than a gamble.

There are still many questions to answer, and there will be intense scrutiny of Ms Sturgeon’s latest paper when it is eventually published.

But right now if a UK government minister were to ask the SNP leader what her currency plan is, she might feel she could ask them back: “What’s yours?”