Nicola Sturgeon will set out her next steps to independence today – boosted by a poll showing slim majority support.
The SNP leader will be in Edinburgh as the UK formally quits the European Union.
She will say: “Tonight Scotland will be taken out of the European Union against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of people in Scotland.
“Nothing could more starkly demonstrate how our nation’s needs are no longer served by a broken, discredited Westminster union.
“But there is the prospect of a brighter, better future as an equal, independent European nation. And today I will lay out the next steps on Scotland’s journey to independence.”
Sturgeon said she has a “cast-iron” mandate to hold a new vote on independence.
On Wednesday, Holyrood’s pro-indy majority formally called again for the legal right to a vote.
Yesterday, pollsters YouGov published findings showing for Scotland to quit the UK, if undecided voters are stripped out of the results.
One in five Scots have changed their minds since voting No in 2014, with many encouraged to vote Yes because of Brexit, the poll suggests.
While the results are a boost for Sturgeon, she will be alarmed most Scots do not want a referendum this year. Majority support only appears for a referendum “in the next five years” but not before the 2021 Holyrood election.
Sturgeon is determined to hold IndyRef2 in 2020, despite a flat rejection from PM Boris Johnson.
The poll confirms most Scots are not convinced leaving the UK will improve the economy.
Chris Curtis, political research manager at YouGov, said: “These are concerning times for Unionists both north and south of the border, with Yes gaining considerable ground on No since 2014.
“If there is a referendum, Scottish opposition to Brexit does give Nationalists an opportunity to win more voters over to their cause.
“Yet the fundamental problem that flummoxed the Yes movement in 2014, that independence would damage the economy, still exists and could still set them back.”
