Sturgeon rules out indyref this year

Consultation on legislation closes tomorrow

Scotland’s First Minister has ruled out holding a second referendum on independence this year.

Nicola Sturgeon has said another ballot is “highly likely” after a majority of Scots voted to stay in the European Union while the UK as a whole opted for Brexit.

However, she told STV News a second vote would not be held in 2017.

“There is not going to be an independence referendum in 2017, I don’t think there is anybody who thinks that is the case,” she said during an interview with the broadcaster.

The Scottish Government has already drafted legislation for a vote, which it says will be used if it concludes independence is the only way to protect Scotland’s place in Europe.

A consultation on the proposed legislation closes tomorrow.

The Government has also published a paper on options aimed at keeping Scotland in the European single market.

Ms Sturgeon has urged the UK Government to opt for a so-called soft Brexit and retain its membership of the trade bloc. Failing that, she wants a special arrangement to allow Scotland to stay in the single market even if the rest of the UK leaves.

The First Minister’s latest comments regarding the timing of a second referendum follow her insistence at the weekend that she is not bluffing on calling a re-run of the 2014 ballot if Scotland’s position is ignored.

She has indicated that a soft Brexit could take the issue off the table in the short-term.

She told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show that UK ministers will be “making a big mistake if they think that I’m in any way bluffing”.

She said: “We have to ask ourselves in Scotland are we happy to have the direction of our country, the kind of country we want to be, determined by a right-wing Conservative government perhaps for the next 20 years, or do we want to take control of our own future?”