Bannockburn, Scotland. Photograph Getty

The UK government has published a draft order that would give the Scottish parliament the power to call for a referendum on the sole question of whether Scotland should remain part of the UK or not.

Writing in the foreword of the draft order, British prime minister, David Cameron, and deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, acknowledged the overwhelming success of the Scottish National Party at last year's elections, having campaigned on a manifesto that promised a referendum on independence before the next term.

They wrote,

"They [the SNP] have campaigned consistently for independence, and while the UK government does not believe that this is in the interests of Scotland or of the rest of the United Kingdom, we will not stand in the way of a referendum on independence.

"The future of Scotland's place within the United Kingdom is for people in Scotland to vote on."

"Ending Scotland's place within the United Kingdom is not the policy of the UK government but we owe it to everyone in Scotland to ensure that the referendum is delivered in a legal, fair and decisive way."

Responding to plans from Westminister on the exact nature of Scotland's independence referendum, Scotland's first minister, Alex Salmond, said that the referendum had "to be made in Scotland", without the UK government "trying to pull the strings behind the scenes".

"What Scotland objects to is all the strings they (the UK government) are trying to to attach. They are trying to run a referendum by proxy," added Salmond.

Westminister has urged a "sooner rather than later" referendum, reportedly within the next 18 months.

Salmond responded,

"The date for the referendum has to be the autumn of 2014. That's because this is the biggest decision that Scotland has made for 300 years. If you are going to do things properly and have the debate in the way it must be had then that is the date that we are going to move towards."