Sturgeon 'confident' Scotland to hold independence vote
October 9, 2022
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Sunday that she was "confident" Scotland could hold a referendum on leaving the United Kingdom in October 2023.
Scotland's first independence referendum was held in 2014, when 55% of voters chose to remain within the UK.
Supreme Court to deliberate referendum's legality
Britain's Conservative governments have declined to permit a second referendum on Scotland's independence.
On Tuesday, the British Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether Scotland's devolved government can hold a referendum without London's consent.
Scotland's government argues that the court should allow the referendum, citing a "fundamental and inalienable" right to self-determination. But lawmakers from Britain-wide parties and some legal commentators say that the matter is reserved for the Westminster parliament in London as per the 1998 Scotland Act.
Sturgeon has said that if the court blocks the referendum, her Scottish National Party (SNP) will run in the next British general election solely on a platform of Scottish independence, turning the election into a de facto plebiscite. The UK's next general election is due to be held in 2024.
"We put our case to people in an election or we give up on Scottish democracy," she said.
"It should be a last resort," Sturgeon said, referring to her plan to turn Britain's general elections into a de facto Scottish independence referendum. "I don't want to be in that position. I want a lawful referendum.
"I am confident Scotland is going to become independent," Sturgeon stressed.
Why do Sturgeon and the SNP want a second referendum?
Although the first vote on leaving the UK failed to yield majority support, Sturgeon's government has argued for a new referendum due to Britain's withdrawal from the European Union.
British voters narrowly supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum, while in Scotland there was a 62% majority in favor of staying in the EU.
Sturgeon has said that there is an "indisputable democratic mandate" for a new vote on secession, as her SNP holds government with the support of the Scottish Greens. In the 2021 election, the two parties took the largest majority ever achieved by the pro-independence bloc in the Scottish parliament.
sdi/sms (Reuters, AP)