Independence referendum: the showdown between London and Edinburgh

A standoff begins between the British government of the Conservative Boris Johnson and the independent Scottish Prime Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who, on the strength of her party’s victory in local elections, quickly wants a self-determination referendum.

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Boris Johnson, who has the final word on whether or not to authorize this referendum, strongly opposes it. If M. The Scottish National Party (SNP)^Me Sturgeon tries to legislate for a referendum, but if the British government does not cooperate, the conflict can be resolved in justice.

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“That would be absurd and utterly reprehensible,” M. he said^Me Sturgeon on the BBC on Sundays. If this happens, “it would mean that a Conservative government has refused to respect the democratic will of the Scottish people,” she warned.

The referendum is “irresponsible” for Boris Johnson. The Tory leader believes the priority is to tackle the economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 127,000 in the UK and brought the country to its knees. He did M. invited to^Me Sturgeon to “work together” to address their “common challenges”, inviting them to meet with other heads of local governments.

“Instead of focusing on what divides, focus on what unites us,” said Michael Gove, the minister responsible for coordinating government action, in an interview on Skynews Sunday.

“Choose your own future”

Nicola Sturgeon explained on Sunday that ending the pandemic was her priority, but that “after the crisis”, she intended to “give the Scottish people the opportunity to choose their future in a referendum”.

Such consultation had already taken place in 2014. At the time, 55% of Scots chose to live in the UK. Based on this recent vote, Boris Johnson argues that such a referendum can only happen “once in a generation”.

However, the SNP believed Brexit was a game-changer, with 62% of Scots opposing it. The goal of the SNP is for Scotland to join the European Union as an independent state.

Mr Gove insisted that unlike the 2011 local election, which led to a major victory for the separatists and held a referendum three years later, this time “the SNP did not get a majority”.

According to the final results announced on Saturday, two days after the election, the SNP did not actually have an absolute majority of one seat, gaining 64 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament. However, it may align itself with the Greens, also in favor of seceding from the United Kingdom, which gained eight seats.

“This gives us two parties that support independence in Parliament, which will take this result as a mandate for another referendum,” Lynn Benny from the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of London told AFP. Aberdeen.

“The problem is that the Conservative government in Westminster will refuse in the short term. So we have this debate on the demand for a democratic referendum, but it is also the legal position that prevents the referendum from happening because at the end of the day giving it It is up to the British government,” Lynn Benny said, “very difficult” to predict how this might be resolved.