Scotland’s
Sturgeon: ‘There will be an independence referendum’
‘Scotland’s
future must be Scotland’s choice,’ says the First Minister.
By QUENTIN
ARIÈS 3/18/17, 6:18 PM CET Updated 3/19/17, 12:09 AM CET
Scotland’s First
Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Saturday her government will present
a bill next week in the Scottish Parliament calling for a new
independence reference to avoid taking part in a “disastrous hard
Brexit.”
Sturgeon told a
conference of her Scottish National Party in Aberdeen that she would
act on the promise she made on Monday to call a second independence
referendum.
“We are the
national party with a truly internationalist outlook,” she said,
adding that whatever the outcome of the vote, “Scotland’s future
must be Scotland’s choice.”
“There will be an
independence referendum,” said the first minister, adding that she
didn’t reach this decision lightly but was forced to trigger the
move because of the likelihood the U.K. will be out of the European
single market once Brexit negotiations with the EU are completed.
Sturgeon said she
fears Prime Minister Theresa May’s hard stance in negotiations with
Scotland and with the EU means “the Brexit process will hit the
rocks.”
The Scottish first
minister needs the consent of the U.K. government for a referendum to
be legally binding. She wants to hold a referendum before the end of
the Brexit negotiations, which are likely to start a month after
London triggers Article 50 signalling its intention to leave the
bloc. May says she will trigger Article 50 by the end of the month.
Sturgeon criticised
U.K. Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and Trade Secretary Liam Fox,
saying they were obsessed with “rebuilding the Empire. They want to
go back in time.”
In Scotland’s 2014
referendum on independence, over 55 percent of voters elected to stay
in the U.K.
Authors:
Quentin Ariès
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