NIC: I BACK NEW INDY PLAN

NICOLA Sturgeon has backed the SNP's new independence strategy after members brutally ditched her plan.

- PAUL HUTCHEON AND CHRIS MCCALL

The former first minister also rejected claims she is a liability after the SNP was hammered in a recent by-election.

In her final months in office, Sturgeon said she wanted to use the next general election as a de facto referendum on independence.

This would have meant the SNP chasing a majority of votes and claiming it as a mandate.

But the plan caused alarm among senior party figures and was axed on Sunday after a debate led by Humza Yousaf.

The First Minister and SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn urged colleagues to aim for a majority of seats a much lower bar.

Sturgeon was greeted by applause from party members before taking questions from the media at the conference in Aberdeen.

She said of the vote snub: "One of the reasons I took the decision to step down was that I believed I'd given it my all on moving the country to independence, but that I had taken it as far as I could.

"I think in those circumstances it was right. In fact, that was my objective, that the party took the time to consider the way forward it wanted to adopt.