Scottish first minister calls for independence referendum by 2021
Scotland’s’ first minister Nicola Sturgeon says the region should hold a new referendum on independence from the United Kingdom in the next two years.
Sturgeon said on Wednesday that she and her colleagues in the Scottish National Party (SNP) will do their best to bring forward the required legislation for holding a fresh vote on the region’s separation from the UK.
The call comes nearly five years after nationalists in Scotland failed to go through an independence referendum. However, the SNP and others insist that a UK-wide referendum in 2016 on leaving the European Union, in which Scots voted to remain part of the EU, has changed the situation.
Sturgeon said that one such referendum should take place before the current term of the Scottish parliament ends in May 2021.
“A choice between Brexit and a future for Scotland as an independent European nation should be offered in the lifetime of this parliament,” Sturgeon said, adding, “I can confirm that the Scottish government will act to ensure that the option of giving people a choice on independence later in this term of parliament is progressed.”
This comes as British government has strongly resisted calls for a fresh referendum on Scottish independence, saying the 2014 referendum settled the issue for a generation.
However, Sturgeon said that the government and parliament in London had failed Scotland and were not caring about demands in the region for remaining part of the EE.
“The Westminster system of government does not serve Scotland's interests,” she said, adding, "Whatever Scotland's constitutional status in the future, it will always be in our interests for these islands to have the closest possible relationship with the EU.”
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