Scotland’s government intends to hold a second independence referendum on October 19, 2023, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Tuesday.
Addressing the Edinburgh parliament, she conceded that the devolved administration may not have the power to call the vote without London’s approval. So to ensure legal clarity, Sturgeon’s government will seek an opinion from the UK Supreme Court before it asks voters: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
The phrasing of the question is the same as Scottish voters were asked in 2014, when they agreed to stay in the UK.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s UK government says the 2014 plebiscite settled the matter, but Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party (SNP) says the UK’s divorce from the EU 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 favor of independence, Scots should be consulted again.
Sturgeon said that if it finds in favor of separation, the “consultative referendum” could only take effect with agreement from the parliaments in Edinburgh and Westminster.
But if the 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 will use the UK’s next general election due by 2024 as a “de facto referendum” on independence, she added.
People gather in Scotland in September 2014, the same month the Scottish Independence Referendum was held. Photo: IC
