A Fresh Start with Independence

What has changed

In 2014, the people of Scotland voted for Scotland to stay part of the United Kingdom.

The Scottish Government believes that we should have the opportunity now to consider our constitutional future.

Since the independence referendum in 2014, significant factors have changed about Scotland’s place in the UK, and about the UK’s place in the world.

Many of the changes do not reflect the predictions or promises made during the debate about Scottish independence, and many could not have been predicted at the time.

For example:

• average real wages in the UK have flat-lined, with effectively no change since the financial crisis of 2008
• Scotland was removed from the EU despite the people of Scotland voting overwhelmingly to stay in the EU
• leaving the EU has led to higher prices and lower economic growth
• people in Scotland are now paying some of the highest energy bills in Europe despite having some of Europe’s biggest energy resources
• attempts to level up the UK, with less economic focus on London and the South East of England, have failed
• the direction taken by UK migration policy is growing further and further away from what Scotland needs as a society and as an economy: for example, for the year to June 2025 the number of health and care worker visas issued by the UK Government in a caring personal service occupation fell by 88%
• the Scottish Parliament’s ability to pass laws within its devolved powers, on behalf of people in Scotland, has been limited and undermined by the UK Parliament and UK Government after Brexit
• Scotland is more ready for independence than it was in 2014, with new institutions delivering for the people of Scotland, like Revenue Scotland and Social Security Scotland