Scottish chief to London: Independence vote a matter of ‘when, not if’
2 min read Scottish chief Nicola Sturgeon informed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday that one other referendum on independence was inevitable after her celebration received a powerful election victory.
Johnson and his Conservative Party, which is in opposition in Scotland, strongly oppose a referendum, saying the difficulty was settled in 2014 when Scots voted towards independence by 55% to 45%.But pro-independence events received a majority within the Scottish parliament in elections held on Thursday, which Sturgeon stated gave her a mandate to push forward with plans for a second referendum after the COVID-19 disaster.
“The First Minister reiterated her intention to ensure that the people of Scotland can choose our own future when the crisis is over,” Sturgeon’s media workplace stated in an announcement after she spoke to Johnson on the telephone.”(She) made clear that the query of a referendum is now a matter of when – not if.
“A statement from Johnson’s Downing Street office after his talk with Sturgeon made no mention of the referendum issue, instead emphasising “the importance of focusing on COVID recovery at this time”.
Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party (SNP) received 64 seats within the Scottish parliament, only one in need of an general majority. With its Green allies, who received eight and in addition favour independence, it’s in command of the political agenda in Scotland.
Speculation has been mounting that when the Scottish parliament legislated for a referendum, the British authorities would go to court docket to cease it. But senior minister Michael Gove sidestepped repeated questions on that earlier on Sunday.
“We’re not going to go there,” he stated on Sky News. “To start speculating about this type of legislation or that type of court hearing and all the rest of it, it’s just a massive distraction,” he stated.
Sturgeon informed the BBC it will be “absurd and completely outrageous” for the British authorities to take authorized motion to cease a referendum. She argued that for London to make use of “force of law” to stop a vote would quantity to saying that the 300-year-old union between England and Scotland was not based mostly on consent.
“I don’t think we will get there,” she stated. Under the 1998 Scotland Act – which created the Scottish parliament and devolved some powers to Edinburgh from London – all issues regarding the “Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England” are reserved to the UK parliament.
Under the act, the UK parliament can grant the Scottish authorities the authority to carry a referendum, a course of that was used to permit the 2014 plebiscite to go forward and which Sturgeon stated ought to unfold once more for a brand new referendum.(
