Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants to hold a referendum on independence from Great Britain next year. At the Scottish National Party (SNP) convention in Aberdeen, Sturgeon said on Tuesday that “there is no doubt” that the Scots would have to be given the option again.
Legal preparations for such a referendum have been started. By the end of the year, he wants to get the powers required for a referendum.
The Scottish Government will have to seek the approval of the British Parliament in London for another independence referendum. The Scottish Parliament had already voted in favor of the referendum in 2017, but the then British Prime Minister Theresa May said at the time that “now is not the time”.
In its first independence referendum in September 2014, 55 percent of Scots voted in favor of remaining in Great Britain. However, Sturgeon said that there was a fundamental change in the situation after the British voted to leave the European Union. While a nationwide June 2016 referendum gave Brexit a narrow yes, around two-thirds of Scotland’s citizens voted to remain in the European Union.
50 percent are for freedom
A survey published this week by the Sunday Times Scotland found that 50 per cent of Scottish citizens are now in favor of independence from Great Britain. This is one percent higher than in June. On Saturday, tens of thousands demonstrated for another independence referendum in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was planning to move his country out of the European Union on 31 October with or without an agreement with Brussels, reacted coldly to Sturgeon’s plans. A spokesman for Johnson told reporters, “The referendum in Scotland was a unique event for a generation.” Sturgeon’s SNP explained itself at the time.
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