Scottish government plans new independence referendum

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Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon

Photo: Jane Barlow / dpa

The Scottish Parliament wants to launch a new poll on secession from Great Britain.

According to Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, a corresponding law will be passed.

Accordingly, the new referendum is to take place on October 19, 2023.

'The time has come to put Scotland on the right track.

The time for independence has come,” said the Scottish National Party (SNP) politician.

Scotland had held a referendum in the past, but in 2014 a majority of Scots (55 percent) voted to remain in the UK.

However, that was before Brexit, which the northernmost part of Britain had rejected with a clear majority (62 percent).

The supporters of independence therefore hope that the situation will change if there is another vote.

That's not so sure.

In the most recent opinion polls from May of this year, the ratio of supporters and opponents of independence is very similar.

In a recent survey by The Times, 38 percent of respondents voted yes and 46 percent no.

A full 11 percent were still undecided.

The British government's approval is actually required for such a vote, which it has so far refused to do.

If necessary, however, Sturgeon intends to frame the issue of the vote so that it can be lawfully held without such consent.

Experts expect lawsuits and legal hurdles.

Although a referendum must be legal, Sturgeon had only argued for her special path at the beginning of June - but one is confronted with a British government that "respects neither democracy nor the rule of law," said the politician.

The Scottish Parliament has an "undeniable democratic mandate" for a referendum, Sturgeon said.

mrc/Reuters