Scottish leader aims to hold new independence vote by 2021

Scotland should hold a referendum on independence from the U.K. by 2021 if Britain leaves the European Union, Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon said Wednesday, even as she acknowledged that she lacks the power to make that happen on her own.

Scots voted against independence 55% to 45% in a referendum in 2014 billed as a once-in-a-generation poll.

In 2016, the U.K. as a whole voted to leave the EU, but people in Scotland voted strongly to remain. Sturgeon said Scotland should not be dragged out of the 28-nation EU against its will.