Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Sunday she would press ahead with her campaign to get Scotland out of the UK, even if she loses her Supreme Court case seeking permission to hold a new referendum on independence.
The head of the Scottish government wants to hold a referendum in October 2023, but the UK’s Conservative government in London has opposed it. Britain’s highest court is due to hear arguments from Tuesday on whether Scotland’s semi-autonomous administration can stage an independence vote without the consent of the British government.
Ms Sturgeon, who leads the Scottish National Party, said if her government lost in court she would make the next UK national election a de facto plebiscite on whether or not to end the more than 300-year-old union between the Scotland and England.
She did not give details of how the whole thing would play out, but a vote held without the approval of the British government would still not be valid in the eyes of the law.
Ms Sturgeon said that if the courts blocked a possible referendum, she would “put her case before the people in a general election, otherwise Scottish democracy would be abandoned. »
“It should be done as a last resort,” she said. I don’t want to find myself in this position. I want to hold a legal referendum,” she said.
Scotland and England have been politically united since 1707. The Scots have had their own parliament and government since 1999 and develop their own policies, including on public health and education. The UK government in London controls national defense and fiscal policy issues.
Scottish voters rejected independence by 55% in a referendum held in 2014, a decision touted as a once-in-a-generation choice. Nicola Sturgeon’s government has argued that Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and the COVID-19 pandemic have upended politics and the economy, and now is the time to revisit the cause of the crisis. ‘independence.
British voters narrowly approved Brexit in a 2016 referendum, but Scots overwhelmingly voted to remain in the European Union.
Ms Sturgeon’s party leads a pro-independence majority in the Scottish parliament, along with the Scottish Green Party, and she claimed that support had generated a ‘clear democratic mandate’ for another independence vote .
The prime minister promised to produce documents in the coming weeks that would detail the economic basis for independence. These supporting documents would also answer specific questions, for example the currency used following this split.
She maintained that her goal of holding a referendum in a year was realistic. “There is no point in speculating on the outcome of a hearing, but should the decision prove positive, our plans are ready to go,” she said.
Polls suggest Scotland is evenly split on the independence issue. Labor Alistair Darling, a former UK Treasury chief, said polls also show a majority of Scots do not want a referendum anytime soon.
“Our country is being torn apart, and this uncertainty is hurting our growth prospects and our well-being,” Darling said.