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Scotland today set March 24, 2016 as its independence day, if voters back leaving the UK in a “landmark” referendum to break up the 300-year union.
The “white paper” on Scottish independence will be unveiled by the regional government in Edinburgh ahead of a historic referendum on September 18, 2014.
Landmark document
It was a “landmark document” which has economic growth, jobs and fairness at its heart, said Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s deputy first secretary.
The 670-page ‘White Paper’ will be available as a hard copy and as an e-book and will be the document that drives the independence debate, providing the positive case for a vote in favour of independence.
“This guide to an independent Scotland will be the most comprehensive and detailed blueprint of its kind ever published, not just for Scotland but for any prospective independent country,” Sturgeon said.
“It is a landmark document which sets out the economic, social and democratic case for independence.
“It demonstrates Scotland’s financial strengths and details how we will become independent — the negotiations, preparations and agreements that will be required in the transition period from a vote for independence in September next year to our proposed Independence Day of March 24, 2016 and in time for the first elections to an independent Scottish Parliament in May of that year,” she added.
An initial print run of 20,000 copies has been produced but it will be made available to everyone who requests a copy.
The Scottish government said it wants as many households in Scotland as possible to have a copy.
The proposed independence day will follow the dissolution of the current Scottish Parliament, which is scheduled to take place at midnight on Wednesday on March 23, 2016.
Scotland was united with England in 1707 that laid the foundation for today’s UK.
The decision to hold referendum was agreed after negotiations with a strongly pro-independence government in power in Scotland since 2007.
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