First Minister ruling out vote slot in 2018

Nicola Sturgeon has said she will not agree to holding a second independence referendum in 2021.

The First Minister said the timing of another constitutional vote should not be determined by what is “convenient” for Theresa May, despite her official spokesman opening the door to exactly such a timescale last week.

The Prime Minister rejected Ms Sturgeon’s call for a second referendum on Scottish independence before Brexit on Thursday, saying “now is not the time”.

In an interview on ITV’s Peston on Sunday programme, the SNP leader said there may be “room for discussions” about a date slightly later in 2019, having set out a timetable predicated on a ballot taking place between autumn 2018 and spring 2019.

Asked about a 2021 date, she replied: “I don’t think that is reasonable because by that point Scotland has been taken out of the EU, two years have elapsed, presumably there is divergence opening up between the rules of the European Union, the single market and where the UK is going, and I think it then gets much harder for Scotland to take a different course. But if she’s talking in the spring of 2019, a bit later, perhaps, than I was suggesting, then there may be some room for discussions around that.”

After Mrs May’s announcement on Thursday, the First Minister’s spokesman was asked if a date before the next Holyrood election, which will take place in May 2021, would be acceptable to Ms Sturgeon. He said: “The mandate is clear: the mandate is for the parliamentary term.”

Ms Sturgeon earlier told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday that Scotland would seek to remain part of the European Union. She said: “There is no queue to join the European Union and we have had several voices over recent times saying that if Scotland wanted to be in the EU then there would be a very open, warm reception for that.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “The First Minister can’t use the EU to claim a mandate when her referendum won’t take us back in.”