Scotland’s future “must be Scotland’s choice”, Nicola Sturgeon declared as she sought to build support behind a fresh vote on independence.
The first minister said she recognised the prospect of a second referendum had split the country and sparked resentment and anxiety among many voters.
But in her keynote speech to the SNP’s spring conference in Aberdeen, she said she had been left with no choice by the UK Government’s refusal to negotiate.
“I could take the easy option. could let Scotland drift through the next two years, hoping for the best, but knowing that the worst is far more likely,” she told a packed hall at the AECC.
“Waiting for the chance to say I told you so, knowing that by then it might be too late to avoid the damage of a hard Brexit.
“Or I could make a plan now to put the Scottish people in charge of our own future. I choose to put the people in charge.
“We know change is coming. The only question is what kind of change. And on that we are not powerless. We can still decide which path we take.
“Whatever our different opinions on independence, we can all unite around this simple principle: Scotland’s future must be Scotland’s choice.”
Ms Sturgeon said efforts to secure a post- Brexit deal for Scotland to stay in the single market and gain substantial new powers had “met with a brick wall of intransigence”.
And she fired another shot at Prime Minister Theresa May – who this week rejected the plans for a referendum by the spring of 2019 saying “now is not the time” to reopen the question of independence.
Ms Sturgeon said she was open to discussion over the date but insisted “there will be a referendum”.
“Stop putting the interests of the right wing of your own party ahead of the interests of the people of our country,” she told Mrs May.
“The prime minister’s attitude should worry all of us hoping that negotiations with Europe will not be a disaster because – and let me put this bluntly – if she shows the same condescension and inflexibility, the same tin ear, to other EU countries as she has to Scotland then the Brexit process will hit the rocks.
She said the party would set out the case for independence “in a hard headed and realistic way”.
“Our job is not to talk to each other. It is to reach out to those not persuaded – to put ourselves in their shoes.
“To understand the hopes, fears and ambitions of all our fellow citizens. And to do what we can to establish common ground.
“So, not just for the sake of our values but for our economic future as well, it’s time to take a different course.”
And she said she recognised that the referendum announcement had not been welcomed by everyone.
“In the last few years it has been one big decision after another.
“You have been bombarded with statistics, claims and counterclaims.
“You might have had heated discussion with friends and family.
“Even though you may feel – like we do – that 2014 was a positive and vibrant exercise of democracy, you might not relish going through it all over again. I understand that.
“So I want you to know that I did not reach the decision lightly.”
She said Scotland could become “a magnet for talent and investment from all across the UK” and issued an open invite to opponents of Brexit.
“Scotland isn’t full up.
“If you are as appalled as we are at the path this Westminster government is taking, come and join us.
“Come here to live, work, invest or study.
“Come to Scotland – and be part of building a modern, progressive, outward-looking, compassionate country.”
Ms Sturgeon also announced a £36m support fund for digital skills training, £35m to employ 800 extra mental health workers and a move to ensure nursery workers are paid the minimum wage by the end of the parliament.
MSPs are expected to approve a formal request for permission to hold the vote next week.