First Minister Alex Salmond has announced the date of the independence referendum will be September 18 2014.
Mr Salmond announced the date to Holyrood as the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill was published.
The Bill is “the most important legislation to be introduced” since the devolved Scottish Parliament was established in 1999, the First Minister said.
He said the legislation is important for what it would allow Scotland to achieve “with the powers of an independent country”.
The vote is taking place after the Scottish National Party won an unprecedented majority in Holyrood in the 2011 election.
Mr Salmond said that in the ballot the people of Scotland would have a choice.
“Next year the choice facing the people is one of two futures. A No vote means a future of governments we didn’t vote for, imposing cuts and policies we didn’t support. A Yes vote means a future where we can be absolutely certain, 100% certain, that the people of Scotland will get the government they vote for,” he said.
Opposition politicians accused Mr Salmond of delay tactics by waiting until now to reveal the proposed date.
Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont said the SNP’s decision to make an occasion out of the announcement was “an attempt to con the people into believing that we have moved a step towards independence when we haven’t”.
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