Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs the Bill will set out for a referendum to be held on October 19 2023, with the question to be asked the same as in the 2014 vote “Should Scotland be an independent country?”

Scotland’s First Minister has confirmed she will be writing to Boris Johnson to inform the Prime Minister of her plans.

She added she would make clear she is “ready and willing” to negotiate the terms of a Section 30 order with him, which would give Holyrood the power to hold a referendum.

But with the Prime Minister having repeatedly refused her calls for another referendum to be held, Ms Sturgeon added “What I am not willing to do, what I will never do is allow Scottish democracy to be a prisoner of Boris Johnson or any prime minister.”

The First Minister stated: “My determination is to secure a process that allows the people of Scotland, whether yes, no or yet to be decided, to express their views in a legal, constitutional referendum so the majority view can be established fairly and democratically.

“The steps I am setting out today seek to achieve that.”