Scotland’s government on Tuesday revealed intentions to hold a second independence referendum on October 19, 2023, drawing the lines for a legal and political showdown with London.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon acknowledged to the Edinburgh parliament that her devolved government might not have the authority to schedule the poll without London’s consent.
Africa Today News, New York reports that before posing the question to voters, it will seek the UK Supreme Court’s opinion to establish legal clarity: ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’
The phrasing of the question was the same as Scottish voters were asked in 2014. Then, they agreed to stay in the United Kingdom, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s UK government says that settled the matter for a generation.
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However, Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party (SNP) says the UK’s divorce from the European Union, following a 2016 referendum, has transformed the debate.
Most Scottish voters were opposed to Brexit, and the SNP-led government said that with a majority in the Edinburgh parliament now in favour of independence, Scots should be consulted again.
Sturgeon stressed that the ‘consultative referendum’ would only proceed with the approval of the UK Supreme Court.
A vote in favour of independence would still need approval from both parliaments in Edinburgh and London before Scotland could formally break away.
If the UK Supreme Court rules that the Scottish government lacks the power to hold the vote without London’s agreement, “it will be the fault of Westminster legislation, not the court”, she said.
In that scenario, the SNP would use the UK’s next general election due by 2024 as a “de facto referendum” on independence, she added.
‘Either way, the people of Scotland will have their say.’
The SNP’s opponents, including the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour, say Sturgeon is fixated on holding a second referendum instead of focusing on more pressing policy matters.