Scots will be independent by 2025, says Sturgeon

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said she believes Scotland will be independent by 2025.

In an interview on ITV’S Tonight programme, she said she had not changed her timetable for a second Scottish independence referendum, and that Scotland should not be told to “shut up” by the rest of the UK during the Brexit negotiations.

Asked by interviewer Julie Etchingham if she thinks the United Kingdom will have broken up by 2025, Ms Sturgeon replied: “I think Scotland will be independent, yes, but, you know, that’s a choice for the Scottish people.”

Pressed on the date, she added: “Look, you’re putting arbitrary dates in my... you know, I believe Scotland will be independent, I’ve always believed that.”

The SNP leader was interviewed on 31 May for the programme. Speaking about Scotland’s place in the Brexit negotiations, she said: “In 2014, we were told if we voted Yes we would impale our place in the EU. So, Scotland voted No to – amongst other things – to protect its place in the EU.

“In 2016, we were told to vote remain to protect our place in the EU. We did that. We were then told that the UK is a family of nations and Scotland’s voice would be heard, that the Prime Minister wouldn’t trigger Article 50 until there had been a UK position. So, basically, what we’re now being told is, you know, ‘shut up, Scotland, because nobody in the rest of the UK is interested in what you want to say’.

“That is a democratically unsustainable position.”