NICOLA Sturgeon has proposed a plan to break an "undemocratic stalemate" over a second Scottish independence referendum in the new foreword to her memoir.
The former first minister has said there needs to be a debate on the objective conditions that should be put in place to trigger another vote in Scotland.
She has highlighted how Northern Ireland already has a process to trigger an Irish border poll embedded into legislation and Scotland should have something similar.
However, she set out there would need to be a debate over what that looks like for Scotland, suggesting support for independence may need to remain at a specified level for a set period of time.
In the foreword for Frankly, Sturgeon wrote: "The Union is creaking at the seams and Westminster's only answer – certainly as far as Scotland is concerned – is to block democracy by refusing to countenance another referendum.
"This cannot hold. Sensible heads would realise that what is needed now is agreement on the objective conditions which would trigger a referendum.
"A process of that nature already exists for an Irish border poll.
"What it might look like in Scotland would need debate – it might require support for independence to remain at at a specified level for a set period of time, for example – but whatever the precise detail, it would surely be better than the undemocratic stalemate that exists now."
The Northern Ireland Act 1998 states that “if at any time it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland”, the Secretary of State shall make an Order in Council enabling a border poll.
This still places the power to decide when a referendum should take place in the hands of the UK Government, but First Minister John Swinney has voiced support for having such a process for Scotland in the past.
Europe, External Affairs and Energy minister Stephen Gethins also said last month Scotland would benefit from a Good Friday-style agreement to break from the Union.
While distancing himself from some of the "dubious" conditions set out in the Good Friday agreement, he said it provides "a precedent, and... a model".
“We’re not looking to replicate, for example, the mechanism that exists in Northern Ireland. However, it does provide a precedent, and it does provide a model,” he said.
“In democracy, I’m a great fan of setting the rules out before the election, not after the election. I think that’s a basic principle that we can all agree on, and we’re in this challenging place at the moment whereby pro-Union politicians determine how people voted after an election – we got that during Brexit, or what Brexit really means.
"So, we’d like to know, is it a majority of SNP MSPs, a pro-independence majority, or is it MPs (that will trigger a referendum)?”
Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay told The National: “It is clear from the comments that Andy Burnham made recently, that the odds on Westminster granting us another referendum is scarce as hen’s teeth.
“A democratic union must be that of equals, and one country should not have the powers to decide if another nation must remain within a union against its will. There must be a clearly established process of how to leave the Union based on the will and sovereignty of the people of Scotland.
“If the latest Scottish election result shows anything, the independence movement has a great amount of public support. The appetite for it is well and truly alive in Scottish politics, and cannot be ignored by the UK Government, considering the large return of pro-Indy MSPs elected to the parliament this May.”
Plaid Cymru MS Kiera Marshall told The National podcast in May pro-independence governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should work together to secure powers to hold independence referendums.
She said the recent devolved election results put the nations in a “stronger position” to show the “status quo is not sustainable”.
Scotland and Wales both need permission from Westminster to hold a referendum, with Scotland requiring a temporary transfer of powers via a Section 30 order under the Scotland Act 1998 and Wales needing the same via a section 109 order under the Government of Wales Act 2006.
