the main political debate in scotland tends to revolve around attitudes to the constitutional question. under the pressure of growing support for scottish independence, a policy of devolution had been advocated by all three gb-wide parties to some degree during their history (although labour and the conservatives have also at times opposed it). this question dominated the scottish political scene in the latter half of the twentieth century with labour leader john smith describing the revival of a scottish parliament as the "settled will of the scottish people". now that devolution has occurred, the main argument about scotland's constitutional status is over whether the scottish parliament should accrue additional powers (for example over fiscal policy), or seek to obtain full independence. ultimately the long term question is: should the scottish parliament continue to be a subsidiary assembly created and potentially abolished by the constitutionally dominant and sovereign parliament of the united kingdom (as in devolution) or should it have an independent existence as of right, with full sovereign powers (either through independence, a federal united kingdom or a confederal arrangement)? to clarify these issues, the snp-led scottish government published "choosing scotland's future", a consultation document directed to the electorate under the national conversation exercise.