Sturgeon set to demand Indyref 2 by end of year
NICOLA Sturgeon will demand the right to hold a second independence referendum by the end of the year.
The First Minister yesterday confirmed she will insist the Prime Minister grants her a Section 30 order in the coming weeks.
She said that the vote should take place in 2020.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, she said: ‘I’m putting legislation through the Scottish parliament right now, to put the rules and regulations in place.
‘As that legislation progresses, we will make that request for a Section 30 order.’
Asked if she would request the order this year, she replied ‘Yes’, adding: ‘It is likely to be over the next matter of weeks. It is coming soon.
‘Of course, we don’t yet know who is likely to be in Downing Street. The situation is very fluid.’
Asked about propping up a Labour government, she said: ‘I say this to Jeremy Corbyn, or any Westminster leader who’s looking to the SNP for support.
‘If you don’t accept Scotland’s right to choose their own future at a time of our own choosing, don’t even bother picking up the phone to me.’
Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: ‘The UK Government will not grant this request as it recognises that the people of Scotland do not want or need another divisive referendum.
‘Barely a quarter of people support Nicola’s timetable, so it’s time she listened to the people of Scotland.’
In March, Miss Sturgeon told MSPs she planned to hold a referendum on Scottish independence before the 2021 Holyrood election.
But this had already been rejected by the UK Government, as ministers confirmed they would refuse the Section 30 order Miss Sturgeon needs to hold a legally binding vote.
In the 2016 SNP manifesto, she said that if there was a ‘material change in circumstances’ such as the UK voting to leave the EU, then another independence referendum should take place.
Miss Sturgeon’s latest demand came as a senior Nationalist claimed it was a ‘real possibility’ that Prime Minister Boris Johnson could secure a Brexit deal by allowing Northern Ireland to stay in the single market.
Speaking at the SNP conference, Joanna Cherry suggested the Tories could be prepared to ‘lose’ Northern Ireland in order to secure an agreement ahead of the UK’s exit from the EU on October 31.
She said: ‘Any form of Brexit would be damaging to Scotland’s economy, to our society and to our culture. We need also to remember at all times that Brexit is not what Scotland voted for.
‘The talks that are taking place at the moment between Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar, and with Michel Barnier’s involvement, I believe that those are serious talks.
‘There’s still a real possibility that Boris Johnson may get a deal by agreeing to let Northern Ireland stay in the customs union and very close to the single market, while the rest of the UK – Scotland, England and Wales – will get a very hard Brexit indeed.’
Nationalist MEP Alyn Smith said: ‘I think Mr Johnson is going to try to get a deal done. He says he wants a deal, I actually believe him.
‘He wants to deliver something called Brexit; he wants to pretend it has been a success.’
‘Time she listened to the people’