Scotland is a society and a nation. No one cares more about Scotland's success than the people who live here and that, ultimately, is why independence is the best choice for our future.

Independence is about making Scotland more successful. At its most basic, it is the ability to take our own decisions, in the same way as other countries.

Read the full SNP Manifesto 2011 text on Independence.

Read the full text on Scotland's Place in the World in the 2011 SNP Manifesto.

Angela Constance on Independence

"When you get paid at the end of the month you don't give that money to your next door neighbours and let them decide what you can spend. At home you and your family are responsible for your own priorities and your own choices. But as a nation we currently let other people make those decisions for us.

In all parts of life people aspire to Independence. Our young people want the freedom to make their own decisions, just as many pensioners relish keeping their independence as they get older. We value independent investigations, we want our courts and police to be independent, many people aspire to leave jobs in big companies to go independent as their own boss.

At the heart of this is the natural desire to take responsibility for our own actions. Independence for our nation is not the answer to every concern you will have about the community and country you live in, but it does mean that we all work together for the answer. Independence is about a lot of things, but for me, at its heart, it is about choices. About having the ability to speak up for our own community, and to see the decisions Scotland takes, acted upon. And that choice - that independence - is a very precious thing."

What's your ambition for Scotland?

We asked people to tell us why they support independence - to set out the ways Scotland can be better as an independent country. Here are some of their reasons.

• higher levels of economic growth and more jobs
• working to end child and pensioner poverty
• moving to universal free childcare to match the best in Europe
• increasing life expectancy and reducing health inequalities
• speeding up the delivery of a Scottish high-speed rail network
• becoming Europe's green energy powerhouse
• focusing more on Scotland's engineering and manufacturing industries
• delivering a carbon neutral Scotland
• making Scotland an international centre for science and innovation
• contributing to international peace-keeping and peace-building not illegal wars
• freeing Scotland from nuclear weapons

A yes vote will mean Scotland becomes an independent nation and we can then take the next steps in delivering the better country we all know Scotland can be. Independence is enjoyed by nations around the world. That same independence can be enjoyed by Scotland too, with the benefits felt by each and everyone of us.