Scotland's Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon promises an independence referendum

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Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon

Photo: RUSSELL CHEYNE / REUTERS

Scotland's Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has promised a second vote on her country's independence from the UK.

This will take place if she wins the Scottish parliamentary election again in May.

Sturgeon cited recent polls which showed "that a majority of people in Scotland want independence".

According to a poll by the British Sunday Times, 50 percent of Scottish voters want a new referendum within the next five years.

49 percent would vote for independence.

According to the survey, 44 percent reject independence.

Sturgeon wanted to ask for the approval of the population in the upcoming election to hold an independence referendum, she told the BBC on Sunday.

Then she will hold the vote - even if the British government should refuse to approve it.

London refuses

Without the approval of Westminister, the referendum would not have a decisive, but only an "advisory" character.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson firmly rejects a new Scottish independence referendum.

In discussions about it, he had said it was a matter that should only happen "once a generation".

In the BBC, Sturgeon reiterated her plan to hold a referendum anyway.

“This is democracy.

It's not about what I want or what Boris Johnson wants. "

In 2014 there was already a referendum on Scotland's independence from the United Kingdom.

At that time, the Scots had voted against detachment with 55 percent of the vote.

However, the Brexit and the corona pandemic have contributed to the fact that the approval ratings would now be different.

In addition to increasing values ​​for a referendum and Scottish independence, the survey showed a strong support of the Scots towards the European Union: 53 percent of the voters would therefore vote for re-joining the EU.

In the 2016 Brexit referendum, 62 percent of Scottish voters voted to remain in the European Union.

In the whole of Great Britain, however, a total of 51.9 percent voted in favor of leaving the EU, thus deciding in favor of Brexit.

Sturgeon's Scottish National Party (SNP), which was discussing a “timetable for a referendum” on Sunday, will first apply to the British government for permission.

If this request is rejected, the party wants to enforce its own regulation for a referendum.

Every legal challenge from London is to be "vigorously" opposed.

The Sunday Times quoted a poll that Sturgeon's party predicted a "landslide victory" in the May election.

According to a recent survey by market researchers at Savanta ComRes, published by the newspaper "The Scotsman", Sturgeon and the SNP can count on 71 out of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament - that is, an absolute majority.

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