Scottish leader promises investment fund if independence secured

Scotland will build an economy based on renewable energy, creating a new $22.1 billion investment fund if it becomes independent, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.

The money would be delivered in the first decade after breaking away from the United Kingdom and would be funded with remaining oil revenues and the "responsible" use of borrowing powers, she revealed.

"A fund like this could support a massive programme to decarbonise housing, cut fuel bills and reduce fuel poverty," she told her Scottish National Party's annual conference in Aberdeen.

"It could finance the building of thousands more affordable homes, invest in local renewable energy projects, help communities own assets and wield more influence over their use.

"It will help the transition to net zero, build resilient communities, and kick-start the sustainable economic growth so important for our newly independent nation."

Sturgeon said more details would be released next week when her SNP-led government in Edinburgh published a newspaper on the economic case for independence for the nation of 5.4 million.

But she said that unlike the UK government in London, no licence to frack for gas would ever be granted in Scotland.

Sturgeon took aim at Truss for failing "utterly" in the UK government's duty to mitigate the impact of a cost-of-living crisis, which has seen energy bills soar on the Russian squeeze on supplies.