Sturgeon: I plan to ignore Boris Johnson and hold an independence referendum
NICOLA Sturgeon has hinted she will try to bypass Boris Johnson if he stands in the way of a second Scottish independence referendum.
The First Minister said yesterday she would seek the “authority” of voters at next year’s Holyrood elections for a rerun of the 2014 border poll.
She said she needed “no one else’s permission” to hold a legal referendum and if a majority wanted to split from the UK “we have a right” to do so.
Ms Sturgeon told the SNP’s virtual winter conference the “inalienable right of self- determination cannot and will not be subject to a Westminster veto”.
The UK Government must give permission for an independence referendum but the Prime Minister is adamant he will not allow one to take place.
Ms Sturgeon said she was not ruling out a legal challenge and was confident of victory.
She pointed to polls showing a surge in support for breaking up the Union north of the border, with one showing a record 58 per cent backing.
Some senior colleagues said a vote should happen within months of May’s Holyrood elections, but Ms Sturgeon would not give a specific date.
She told BBC Radio 4: “I have never ruled out having a situation where this question, which has never been determined in courts – of does the Scottish Parliament have the power to have a referendum regardless of what Westminster says, or not?
“That’s never been tested. I have never ruled that out. But I don’t think that should be the preference.
“Me and Boris Johnson can argue the toss over whether Scotland should be independent or not – it’s entirely legitimate for him to argue against it.
“What’s not, in my view, legitimate or acceptable is for him to say that’s not for the Scottish people to decide and he can somehow stand in the way of democracy.”
Mr Johnson’s spokesman said: “The people of Scotland had a vote on this and they voted very clearly to remain part of the UK.”
Ms Sturgeon also blasted Mr Johnson for going ahead with Brexit despite the Covid chaos.
She said it was “really important” Scotland can rebuild from the pandemic in the way that its people want, rather than “in the image of Boris Johnson and his band of Brexiteers”.
Ms Sturgeon said every fulltime NHS and adult social care worker in Scotland would receive £ 500 as a one- off thank you “for their extraordinary service in this toughest of years”.
The First Minister will today announce a £ 100million fund to help hard- up Scots this winter, including direct payments of £ 100 to all families with children receiving free school meals. The fund will also help get older people connected online and provide assistance for homeless people.
Ms Sturgeon will also stress Scotland does not have to be independent for the SNP Government to “start doing the right things”.
But she will complain that Westminster’s control over much of the social security system north of the border makes it harder for ministers to act.