Scottish lawmakers to hold independence vote

Scotland’s parliament is poised to call for an independence referendum Tuesday, another headache for Prime Minister Theresa May as she battles to keep the country united just a day before triggering Brexit.

Lawmakers in Edinburgh are expected to vote in favor of Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon’s plan for an independence referendum despite the prime minister’s last- minute appeals.

Sturgeon will then make a formal request for a referendum but she needs approval from the British government and parliament to do so and May has already said that “now is not the time.”

May will on Wednesday begin the process of ending Britain’s 44- year membership of the EU by invoking Article 50 of the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty, opening two years of negotiations.