Nicola Sturgeon demands new Scotland independence referendum

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will on Thursday night demand the right to hold a new independence referendum.

Nicola Sturgeon poses with newly elected MPs of her Scottish National Party in Dundee at the weekend. Picture: PA

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will on Thursday night demand the right to hold a new independence referendum, challenging Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he grapples with the UK’s coming split from the EU.

A month before Britain embarks on its momentous journey out of the EU, Ms Sturgeon will say she has won a mandate to call for a fresh independence vote after winning 47 of the 59 seats in Scotland in last week’s election, 11 more than in 2017.

Ms Sturgeon will publish a document, “Scotland’s Right to Choose”, demanding Britain’s parliament transfer the power to Scotland’s devolved parliament to authorise a new referendum, setting the stage for a constitutional stand-off.

It is ultimately up to the British parliament to decide whether Scotland can hold a new referendum, and Mr Johnson’s government has repeatedly said it will reject any demand for another vote.

“There is a clear mandate for this nation to have the power to decide its own future,” Ms Sturgeon will say, according to extracts released by her office. “The result of last week’s general election makes that mandate unarguable.”

Scots rejected independence by 55 to 45 per cent in a 2014 referendum but a three-year political crisis in London and differences over Brexit have strained the bonds that tie the UK together. Every region of Scotland voted to stay in the EU in 2016, while the UK as a whole voted to leave, leading Ms Sturgeon to claim a new referendum is justified as Scotland is now being dragged out of the bloc against its will.

If Scotland voted for independence, it would mean the UK would lose about a third of its landmass, almost a 10th of its population, a core ingredient of its identity, and rip apart the world’s fifth biggest economy.

Opinion polls suggest Scottish support for leaving the UK is far stronger than it was before the start of the 2014 campaign, although most polls suggest there is not currently a majority in favour.

In her speech, Ms Sturgeon will reiterate she will seek to secede from the UK only through a properly agreed referendum.

“We understand that a referendum must be accepted as legitimate, here in Scotland and the UK, as well as in the EU and the wider international community,” she will say.

Reuters