Scottish independence bid in 2018 would make sense: Sturgeon

AFP
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. (AFP)

LONDON: Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon raised the possibility of a new independence referendum in autumn 2018 in a BBC interview aired on Thursday.
Sturgeon said a vote in Scotland, which opted overwhelmingly to stay in the EU, would be “common sense” as Britain prepares to leave.
Asked if autumn 2018 was a possible date for the referendum, the pro-independence Scottish National Party leader answered: “Within that window.
“I guess when the sort of outline of a UK deal becomes clear on the UK exiting the EU, I think that would be a common sense time for Scotland to have that choice if that is the road we choose to go down.”
Following Britain’s June 2016 referendum on EU membership, in which the country as a whole opted by 52 percent for Brexit, Sturgeon said a fresh bid for Scottish independence was “highly likely.”
Scotland already held an independence referendum in 2014 in which 55 percent voted to stay part of the United Kingdom and 45 percent voted to leave.
A poll by Ipsos MORI for STV News published on Thursday showed a slim majority in favor of staying a part of Britain, with voters split 51 to 49 percent.
The British government has said the 2014 vote settles the question for a generation but Sturgeon has argued that circumstances have now changed as Scotland is going to be taken out of the EU “against its will.”
Sturgeon has asked for a “differentiated solution” for semi-autonomous Scotland to remain in the European single market but has said her request has been met with “intransigence” from London.
She would need permission from the national government to hold another independence vote and some reports have suggested she could do so at her party’s spring conference later this month.
The Ipsos MORI poll found 52 percent of those questioned believe Sturgeon is doing “a good job representing Scotland’s interests in the process of the UK leaving the EU.”
Only 24 percent believed Prime Minister Theresa May is doing a good job representing Scotland’s interests.
A total of 1,029 Scots aged 16 and above took part in the survey, which was carried out between Feb. 24 and March 6.
In Scottish council elections in May, 46 percent said they would back the SNP, with 19 percent for the Conservatives and 17 percent for Labor.