Here is the Scottish Conservative amendment. 

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Ms Sturgeon says she will seek to end on a note of consensus.

She says all of us could agree we would rather not be in this situation.

The first minister says the majority of MSPs wished to remain in the EU and be in the single market.

She says there is no indication at all that this parliament's voice is being heard at Westminster.

The first minister says the question is who gets to make the decision about what kind of country is wanted and it can only be the people of Scotland. 

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she has acknowledged that this must be an informed choice.

Ms Sturgeon says the people of Scotland must understand the terms of Brexit to make that choice.

The first minister says the Scottish government will allow people to make "a genuinely informed choice". 

Ms Sturgeon says the latest date for that choice should be around the time when the UK leaves the EU in spring of 2019.

Ms Sturgeon says if the UK government disagrees with that timetable it should lay out an alternative and she will be open to discussions on this.

She says it is not acceptable for the UK government to stand as a road-block to the will of this parliament.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the people of Scotland should have an "informed choice".

Ms Sturgeon says she agrees with the prime minister that "now is not the time" for a second vote. 

The first minister says the earliest point that Scotland could make an informed choice is autumn next year. 

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says: "The future of Scotland should not be imposed apon us, it should be the choice of the people of Scotland."

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie says Alex Salmond said an independent Scotland would only seek membership of EFTA not the EU.

Ms Sturgeon says the SNP position on this is clear on this.

She says Scotland is being taken out of the EU against its will. 

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she understands why many people do not relish the prospect of another independence referendum.

"That weighs heavily on me," she says.

Ms Sturgeon says Scotland may well have to accept a hard-Brexit even though it has fought against it and she does not think that it "right or fair". 

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the Scottish government were encouraged initially by the prime minister's promise to include the devolved nations.

Ms Sturgeon says the prime minister ruled out single market membership without any consultation with the devolved nations.

The first minister says the Scottish government made efforts to compromise to protect Scotland's place in Europe and that it had been ignored.

Ms Sturgeon says: "Having voted to remain in the EU we face now being taken out against our will."

She says what meaning can ever be attached to the idea that the UK is a partnership of equals, when the parliament is ignored on such an important issue.;

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon uses her motion to ask that the parliament acknowledges the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs.

Ms Sturgeon therefore mandates the Scottish government to take forward discussions with the UK government on the details of an order under section 30 of the Scotland Act 1998.

Image source, bbc

The first minister says this will ensure that the Scottish Parliament can legislate for a referendum to be held that will give the people of Scotland a choice over the future direction and governance of their country.

She says a referendum should be held at a time, and with a question and franchise, determined by the Scottish Parliament.

Ms Sturgeon says this would most appropriately be between the autumn of 2018, when there is clarity over the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, and around the point at which the UK leaves the EU in spring 2019.

Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald points out the first minister lost her overall majority in the last election.

Mr Macdonald asks what analysis of the appetite for another referendum of the Scottish people has been made.

Ms Sturgeon says: "We won the election on the basis of that proposition."

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says Scotland voted by 62% to 38% to remain in the EU and that the country now faces the prospect of being taken out of the EU against its will.

Ms Sturgeon says the Scottish government has an "unquestionable mandate" to hold another independence referendum.

Image source, bbc

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the decision to seek parliament's authority to begin the progress towards an independent referendum, is not one she has taken lightly.

Ms Sturgeon says the question is what change is right for Scotland and should that choice be made "for us or by us".

Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles intervenes to say the country is divided right down the middle and it is the first minister's job to heal this division.

Ms Sturgeon insists that when there is a difference of opinion the best thing to do is to offer a choice.

Here is the Scottish government motion.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Image source, bbc

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will now lead a debate entitled 'Scotland's Choice', in which she will call for the backing of her motion requesting Westminster grant a second independence referendum.

Image source, bbc/PA/Thinkstock

Mr Gordon MacRae, the chief executive of the Humanist Society Scotland, delivers today's time for reflection.

Image source, bbc

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, who backs a federal solution for the UK, said the country did not need a repeat of the "divisions" of 2014, and claimed that Ms Sturgeon "wakes up every single day thinking of ways to engineer another referendum because leaving the UK is the only thing that matters to her."

Ms Dugdale also said the Scottish government had "ignored the will" of the Scottish Parliament on five occasions over the past year, when it had been defeated by opposition parties in votes over issues including fracking and the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act.

And Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said it was "absurd for the SNP to put forward a referendum when there is no cast-iron guarantee that they will take Scotland back into the EU".

Image source, bbc

Image source, bbc

Tory leader Ruth Davidson said it was clear that a majority of people in Scotland do not want a re-run of the 2014 referendum, when voters rejected independence by 55% to 45%.

She added that it was "utterly irresponsible" for Ms Sturgeon to trigger a campaign "while still hiding the facts on independence, such as the currency, EU membership and the price tag it would entail."

Her party's amendment to the Scottish government motion calls on the parliament to reject the proposal for a referendum before April 2019.

Image source, Getty Images

Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie confirmed his party would vote with the government, adding: "The people of Scotland deserve to have a choice, and it's appalling to see anti-democratic Tories trying to close down our options".

But the Scottish Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats have all said they will vote against the motion.