Scottish party to push for vote on independence

The Scottish National Party will push for a new referendum on independence as an alternative to Brexit, party leader Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday, as it digs in its heels on an issue that may cost her party support in Britain’s June 8 election.

“There is just too much at stake for Brexit simply to be imposed on Scotland, no matter how damaging it turns out to be,” Sturgeon, who is also first minister of the devolved Scottish government, told a launch of the party’s policy offer to voters.

The policy document said there was no rational argument for leaving the single market.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has rejected the demand for a new vote on secession, saying that with Britain about to leave the EU this was not the time for another vote, without saying when that time might be.

Sturgeon wants a new choice to be offered when it is clear what Brexit means.

The party would ensure that Scotland’s voice was heard, Sturgeon said, and it would push for Scotland to stay in the single market even as Britain left it. But proposals along those lines, presented in December, were rejected by May’s government.

Scots rejected independence by a 10-point margin in 2014 and polls show support has not shifted. But Sturgeon says a new choice should be offered since in 2016 Scottish voters voted to remain in the EU, while the UK as a whole voted to leave.

Sturgeon’s party is the dominant party representing Scotland in the British parliament, with 54 of 59 seats. It also runs the devolved Scottish government, which has authority over health, education, transport and some portion of taxes.

Polls appear to show that while the Scottish National Party will easily win the election in Scotland, the Conservatives will take some seats from it by sticking to practically one policy — opposing independence.

The Conservatives say the Scottish National Party’s answer to any issue is always independence, and the party is using Brexit as an excuse to try to further this cause.

THE POLICY DOCUMENT SAID THERE WAS NO RATIONAL ARGUMENT FOR LEAVING THE SINGLE MARKET

“Strip away the bluster and it’s written down in black and white — [Sturgeon] wants to drag Scotland back to another referendum by as early as next autumn,” Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson said..

The nationalists argue that Brexit is a game-changer. “At the end of the Brexit process — when the terms of the deal are known — Scotland must have a choice about our future; a choice between following the UK down the Brexit path or becoming an independent country,” Sturgeon said.