Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday announced plans to hold a second referendum on the country’s independence in October next year. She has vowed to take legal action to secure a vote if the British government tries to block it.
According to Sturgeon, the Scottish government, led by its pro-independence Scottish National Party, will publish a draft referendum with a suggested date of 19 October 2023 for the vote.
She also said she would write to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking for permission to hold a consultative referendum, but said she had already started plans to gain legal authority if he blocked the plans.
“What I am not willing to do, what I will never do, is allow Scottish democracy to be the prisoner of Boris Johnson or any prime minister,” Sturgeon told lawmakers.
Voters in Scotland, which has a population of about 5.5 million, rejected independence in 2014. But Scotland’s semi-autonomous government says Britain’s departure from the European Union, which has been opposed by most Scots, means that the matter should be put to a second vote.
