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LAST UPDATE | 28 Jun 2022
SCOTTISH FIRST MINISTER Nicola Sturgeon has announced that a second independence referendum will be held on 19 October 2023.
Ms Sturgeon said today that she would be writing to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to inform him of her plans.
Speaking in the devolved Scottish parliament today, the Scottish National Party leader added she would make clear she is “ready and willing” to negotiate the terms of a Section 30 order with him, which would give Holyrood the power to hold a referendum.
The 2014 referendum, which saw voters opt to stay in the UK by 55% to 45%, took place after then prime minister David Cameron agreed a section 30 order.
But since then Conservative prime ministers have flatly rejected any suggestion that there should be another vote.
Ms Sturgeon added: “What I am not willing to do, what I will never do, is allow Scottish democracy to be a prisoner of Boris Johnson or any prime minister.
“My determination is to secure a process that allows the people of Scotland, whether yes, no or yet to be decided, to express their views in a legal, constitutional referendum so the majority view can be established fairly and democratically.
“The steps I am setting out today seek to achieve that.”
The question to be asked the same as in the 2014 vote: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
Sturgeon said it was a “matter of principle” that any referendum would be a legal ballot.
Outlining her bid to have an “indisputably legal referendum” she told MSPs at Holyrood that the vote would be held “to ascertain the views of the people of Scotland as to whether or not Scotland should be an independent country.”
To achieve “legal clarity” over the Scottish government’s plans, Sturgeon said that Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, the Scottish Government’s most senior law officer, had agreed to refer the matter to the UK Supreme Court.
She said the vote would be a consultative referendum as the vote on Brexit was in 2016.
As a result, she explained, a majority vote would not by itself make Scotland independent, adding: “For Scotland to become independent following a yes vote, legislation would have to be passed by the UK and Scottish Parliaments.”
Ms Sturgeon however is insistent that the SNP’s victory in the 2021 Holyrood elections gives her a mandate for another referendum, and has said she wants this to take place before the end of 2023.
While her party failed to win overall control in the Scottish Parliament last year, the election of a record number of Scottish Green MSPs mean that there is a majority in Holyrood for a fresh vote on the issue.
Critics claim Sturgeon is “obsessed” with holding a second referendum when the Scottish government should be focused on matters such as tackling the cost-of-living crisis.
Donald Cameron, the Scottish Conservative spokesman for the constitution, said today: “The First Minister’s obsessive push for another divisive independence referendum is the height of self-indulgence and irresponsibility.”
Cameron argued: “In the last week before summer recess, people want to see the SNP Government focus on the issues that really matter to them, rather than wasting time and energy on a pretend poll.
“Right now, ministers should be prioritising the global cost-of-living crisis, fixing our NHS and rebuilding our economy from the pandemic.
“It is disgraceful that Nicola Sturgeon would put all that on the backburner to push for another unwanted, possibly even illegal, referendum.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar meanwhile accused the First Minister to “trying to drag Scotland back to the politics of the past instead of dealing with the challenges of the present”.
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I would love to see Scotland get their independence but unfortunately I think they will bottle it again.
@Pat Casey: maybe not, it’s a quick route back to the EU and all the benefits that will bring.
@John Mulligan: We can only hope.
This could turn out like Catalonia, Scotland goes ahead with the referendum, wins the vote, declares independence, Boris declares it illegal and charges Nicola with sedition. One for Netflix :-)
@John Mulligan: be interesting to see a hard border on Hadrian’s wall. Custom checks to get from England to the Scottish ferry to Northern Ireland. It is interesting to consider how an EU border would work between England and Scotland. Maybe they look for an Northern Ireland type of Protocol. Interesting times. But I understand the EU have not agreed a quick Scottish re-entry into the EU
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: interesting indeed, but I think the EU have agreed to a quick re-entry…if they do break from England… the smaller “UK” will be very isolated indeed.
@Pat Casey: The most interesting thing about that was not what Sturgeon said, but what the Torries and Labour said in response. The Empire strikes back telling Scotland to get back into its box and not trying to stand alone or decide its own future.
Starmer and Labour are every bit the unionist and little Englanders as the Tories. Well done Scotland – you’re day is coming!
@Ronan Skelly: Not true there is no quick route back to joining the EU
@Robert Preston: it might not be quick but its a route
Really Scott. Scottish North Sea oil/gas was the UK cash Cow for years..
Now the londongrad money is drying up,Brexit is hitting and a government of ineptitude down south means they would almost certainly be better off independent…
@David cotter: the problem is the Scottish are not capable of running the place – they are too dependent on the English. They will not vote for it in any case as they too afraid to let go of the apron strings.
It’s not like Scotland didn’t vote on this recently. It was put to a vote and it was defeated.
I am all for democracy and independence, but you can’t ask for a vote a couple of years later because the first few results didn’t suit you. Something so big as indépendance can’t just be voted on in a whim every couple of years. Also I would say that something so big as independence, which has massive direct repercussions for generations to come, would need to pass with an overwhelming majority to ensure it is the full will of the people. Even with the Irish question, a simple 52% in favour, in my opinion, will not do. You need about 70%+.
@Ciaran: it was 7 years ago…..and brexit means they should be allowed another go
@Ciaran: what you say makes a lot of sense but a lot has changed too since the last referendum .The biggest issue is whether Scotland has the capacity in terms of economy etc to go it alone .They would get huge support from E.U. but it’s probably not viable and.anyway Billy Bunter says NO ,will take no chances ,nor will any other conservative who follows him .
@Ciaran: Understand that one of the main reasons the YES vote didn’t win was that they were told by the EU that membership wasn’t automatic and they would be out of the EU and need to apply. We then had Brexit where the Scotts voted to remain in the EU so the end result of Brexit was the same if the YES vote won.
Everything has changed since the last vote so they do have a right to revote on it – if the situation hadn’t changed, then you would be right that they shouldn’t be allowed to call for another vote.
The idea that it should be 70%+ is ridiculous, you are saying that 3 people’s opinion matters more than 7 people.
@Ciaran: i think that Brexit has changed the situation in a major way… and people in Scotland want to be part of the EU… Johnson as PM doesn’t help the voluntary union either
@Ciaran: They voted no on the basis that Cameron told them if they left the Union they would be out of Europe, look how that turned out, they were sold a pup by the brits, no surprises there.
@Pat Casey: — Apart from the Brexit result pushing the Scots toward another referendum, they were apparently promised the Earth if they voted No the last time. They did vote No and the promises didn’t materialise. Whatever the promises were, they must have been significant.
@Ciaran: Big difference Brexit.
@E.J. Murray: that’s really hard to believe that England would not keep their word……or break international law or stuff like that…. they always stick to agreements that they enter into…. I’m shocked!
@David cotter: she should have called it for 12th July, to get unionist support with a big bonfire!
@Ciaran: Are you feeling ok 70%+. You must be a unionist yourself. Are you saying so that if we have a border poll here in Ireland that only those who vote yes for Unity must reach over 70% – but those who want to remain in the UK need only receive 31%?
So Ciaran, do you want your meds now, or do you want to continue writing more comedy scripts?
@Ciaran: they’ve been taken out of the EU against their wishes. Good enough reason for a rerun.
@Joan Grennan: That’s not actually true. It’s more likely that England is a lot less viable without the resources that they currently take from Scotland.Ironically, Scotland is far more potentially viable as an independent country than Ireland, in terms of natural resources and the scale at which those are already developed. So, viability is non-issue. What’s more of a challenge is how much the media narrative drives down the level of self-confidence. That’s what won in the end in 2014, that and scare stories about pensions being cut and being locked out of the EU, ironically.
@Ciaran: the terms under which they voted have completely changed. They’re absolutely right to demand a second referendum. The UK government are scared stiff because they will have to assume all of the combined national debt in order to keep their seat on the security Council. Scots would walk away with a fresh start, debt free and the influence of having the UK nuclear submarine pens on their land.
I am from Scotland and would love to see them vote for independence. I know friends family last time very concerned about leaving EU then Brexit happened and would change their vote for independence.
Good for them! I hope it passes this time.. EU membership will swing it on favour of independence.
@Ronan Skelly: Sturgeon’s problem is that she also needs those on board opposed to EU membership to get the yes vote over the line, but while Scotland would probably need to be in the EU in order to prosper, she cannot argue for it. Worse, there’s the problem of potentially having a hard border with England, due to Westminster’s hardline Brexit stance. So while I would like for them to be independent, I think ultimately the status quo will prevail.
Good luck to our Celtic cousins.
They have a right to a new post Brexit referendum after being dragged out of the EU against the democratic will of the Scottish people.
Yawn. Print the legend. The reality is they stay.
And there endeth the empire…
@JG: The empire is finished no foreign lands to seize and the greedy eye of England is finished.
@JG: For the best. It’s moribund now.
@Daniel Roche: Keep up the Empire ended in the 50s
All well and good till the bill comes. If you can cover your end after the cash cow goes then it’s going to be a success. At least an independent vote isn’t filled with extreme opposite sides not parts of the UK on this island
Hon the jocks!
Can Ireland have one ?
This will be very interesting to watch. It’s likely Johnson will have been booted out of downing street by then which adds to the dynamics and could act as an assist for Sturgeon.
@Joe Bergin.: Boris told Nicola he will get Dominic Cummings to spearhead her Leave campaign for her!
I find it interesting that most of the comments are pro Scottish independence and fair enough, but do people realise that if it happened, it would significantly negatively impact the Irish economy and likely reduce our influence within the EU?
@Stephen Foster: how?
@Vlad Eire: I don’t see how it would, from what I’ve read it would quicken a United Ireland and damage the UK’s international standing, worse than what’s already been done by it leaving the EU. Russia would be the country most pleased as it would militarily diminish one of the two main powers in Europe, what if Scotland insisted that the Royal Navy remove it’s nuclear-armed submarines from their base at Faslane, at a stroke the 32% smaller UK would lose it’s ‘continually at sea’ nuclear deterrent, plus the loss of airbases at Lossiemouth and Leuchars would give the RAF a headache.
It would be great to see a not so great Great Britain!
The Ref may happen but the vote will be to stay in the union . Scotland has to meet certain conditions to even apply to join the E.U which it cant at this time and then even if fast tracked it would takes years sometimes up to 10 years .The EU will not want this bother especially after Brexit you only have to look at the northern Ireland protocol . Sturgeon should let it go as this will her downfall
They will bottle it again. They only want their freedom in the movies
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