Scotland’s First Minister has proposed October 2023, as the date for another referendum on independence.
Nicola Sturgeon said the question would be the same as in the last referendum in 2014: “Should Scotland be an independent country?” She disclosed that a letter has been written to UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to ask for formal consent for the vote to be held.
Sturgeon said she would press on with her plan if this is not granted by the UK government. However, she stressed that any referendum would need to be “indisputably lawful” and constitutional, with the Supreme Court being asked to rule on the potential legal issues around holding a vote without the UK government’s approval.
The UK government said it would examine the First Minister’s proposals, but stressed that its position that “now is not the time” for another referendum did not change. It has also said that it is “clear” that the constitution is reserved to Westminster.
Mr. Johnson said “We’ll study it very carefully and respond properly. I think the focus of the country should be building a stronger economy. That’s what we’re doing. I certainly think that we’ll have a stronger economy and a stronger country together”.
Sturgeon said Scotland’s top law officer, the Lord Advocate, has referred the case to the UK’s highest court, with court papers being served on UK government law officers on Tuesday (June 28, 2022) afternoon. The first minister said she hoped the Court would be able to “deliver clarity and legal certainty in a timely manner” instead of passing the bill and then facing a legal challenge from opponents.
The Two Sides of the Ruling
If the court rules that Holyrood does not have the power to hold a referendum, she said the next general election would become a “de facto referendum” with the Scottish National Party (SNP) standing on a single issue of independence. However, if the court rules in the Scottish government’s favour, Sturgeon said it would move quickly to pass its Referendum Bill, which was published while she was speaking. She said that the lawfulness of the referendum “must be established as a matter of fact, not just opinion”.
The First Minister told Members of the Scottish Parliament that she wrote to the Prime Minister to ask him to negotiate the terms of a section 30 order, which would temporarily transfer the power to hold a referendum from Westminster to Holyrood, as happened ahead of the 2014 referendum which saw Scottish voters back remaining in the UK by 55% to 45%.
The First Minister, Sturgeon, said this option would put the legal basis of a referendum beyond doubt. But with Mr. Johnson having repeatedly refused her calls for another referendum to be held, Sturgeon intimated that: “What I am not willing to do, what I will never do, is allow Scottish democracy to be a prisoner of Boris Johnson or any Prime Minister”.
Sturgeon pointed out that “My determination is to secure a process that allows the people of Scotland, whether yes, no or yet to be decided, to express their views in a legal, constitutional referendum so the majority view can be established fairly and democratically”, adding that “The steps I am setting out today seek to achieve that”.
“If it does transpire that there is no lawful way for this parliament to give the people of Scotland the choice of independence in a referendum, and if the UK government continues to deny a section 30 order, my party will fight the UK general election on this single question: should Scotland be an independent country?”
The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon
Additionally, she said the Scottish government would “make the positive case for independence” and would “do so with commitment, confidence and passion” in the coming months.
“Let the opposition if they can make the case for continued Westminster rule and then let the people decide.”
The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon
She said, otherwise, opposition parties would cast doubt on the legitimacy of the process, “so that they can avoid the substantive debate on independence”.
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