The SNP has launched a task force to boost its planning for a second referendum on Scottish independence.
The party's deputy leader Keith Brown said the group would work on strategy to prepare for an IndyRef2 that Nationalists plan to hold in the "early stages of the next parliamentary term".
But pro-Union campaigners said the move was proof the SNP was "out of touch" with the public mood.
Nationalists have grown in confidence over the last 12 months as a series of opinion polls have found growing support for independence.
The party is widely expected to win May's Holyrood election and use it as a springboard to demand another referendum.
Brown, the SNP's campaign director, said: "Our independence task force at SNP headquarters will be welcomed by party members and grassroots Yes activists across the country.
"I really believe that when I make the appointment it will also fire-up the wider Yes movement.
“The staff at SNP HQ do an amazing job, with a huge membership to look after.
"On top of the vast amount of administrative, member care and support work they have been putting on world class events, off and now online, as well leading on digital political messaging - and of course coordinating campaigns that have won numerous elections.
“And now we’re ramping things up. The independence task force will bring strategic direction and expertise which I believe is the final piece in the jigsaw that will help deliver independence."
Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: “Amid a public health pandemic when people are losing their lives and livelihoods, the idea that we need a task force on separation shows just how out of touch the SNP is.
“Imagine thinking that what we need right now is a task force focused on dividing communities and building borders, rather than bringing people together and rebuilding our country.
“The SNP is obsessed with how to tear families and friends apart, but we are stronger together as part of the UK and we can ensure a successful recovery by working together.”
Anas Sarwar MSP, who is standing to be Scottish Labour leader, said: “The SNP’s priorities are wrong. Right now, political leaders should be focused on the coronavirus crisis, the vaccination programme and creating stability for the people of Scotland.
“As we emerge from the pandemic, what is needed is a task force on jobs, health and education – not on independence.”
