Scotland demands new independence vote before Brexit: Sturgeon

EDINBURGH

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on March 13 demanded a new independence referendum to be held in late 2018 or early 2019, once the terms of Britain’s exit from the European Union have become clearer.

A vote that could rip apart the United Kingdom just months before Brexit adds a tumultuous twist and highly uncertain consequences to the two-year process of leaving the EU after more than four decades.

“If Scotland is to have a real choice - when the terms of Brexit are known but before it is too late to choose our own course - then that choice must be offered between the autumn of next year, 2018, and the spring of 2019,” Reuters quoted Sturgeon as telling reporters.

Her demand comes just as British Prime Minister Theresa May is poised to launch the Brexit process, something opposed by most Scots in last June’s vote on leaving the bloc.

Following Sturgeon’s remarks, the British government said it will take Scotland’s interests into account as it negotiates a new relationship with the EU, The Associated Press reported.

May’s government said in response that it is seeking “a future partnership with the EU that works for the whole of the United Kingdom. The U.K. Government will negotiate that agreement, but we will do so taking into account the interests of all of the nations of the U.K.”

Ultimately it is the U.K. parliament in Westminster - where May commands a majority - which makes the call on whether Scotland can hold a second referendum. But if May refused to approve such a vote she could provoke a constitutional crisis.

This month, she accused Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party of sacrificing not only the United Kingdom but also Scotland with its “obsession” with securing independence.

Sturgeon has previously said she wanted Scotland to be allowed to strike its own deal with the EU to keep access to the bloc’s tariff-free single market. But on March 13 she said her efforts had hit a “brick wall of intransigence” in London.

“If the U.K. leaves the EU without Scotland indicating beforehand - or at least within a short time after it - that we want a different relationship with Europe, we could face a lengthy period not just outside the EU but also the single market,” she said.

The results of the June 23, 2016 Brexit referendum called the future of the U.K. into question because England and Wales voted to leave the EU but Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay, with an overall 51.9 percent in favor of leaving.

Scots rejected independence by 55-45 percent in a referendum in September 2014, though the vote energized Scottish politics and support for the SNP has surged since then.

Britain’s opposition Labour Party will not oppose a call for a second Scottish independence referendum if the plan wins support from the Scottish parliament, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on March 13.