Scottish Parliament to Back Independence Vote in Brexit Defiance
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is expected to win backing for her plan to pursue a second independence referendum in a parliamentary vote that comes a day before the UK triggers two years of talks on withdrawing from the European Union.
Lawmakers in Edinburgh will vote around 5 pm on Tuesday, with the Greens already saying they will support Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party to ensure a majority in the semi-autonomous Scottish Parliament. She is seeking permission to request the legal means from the UK authorities to hold the plebiscite by spring 2019.
The vote, which was postponed from last week because of the terrorist attack outside the UK Parliament in London, sets up what could be a lengthy and acrimonious domestic showdown in the midst of Brexit negotiations. Prime Minister Theresa May met Sturgeon on a visit to Scotland on Monday and has rebuffed the plan for another Scottish referendum.
Sturgeon said after their meeting in Glasgow that she remained “frustrated” with the Brexit process. “I want the UK to get a good deal, but when that deal emerges I think people in Scotland should have an informed choice whether that’s the path they want to take or whether they want to take the path of becoming an independent country.”
The dispute over who has the right to decide Scotland’s future and when is set to rumble on, and might suit both parties for now, Bloomberg reported.
Sturgeon is trying to build support in the polls for independence after being defeated in 2014, a year when the Scottish economy was performing better and the price of North Sea oil was almost twice what it is today.
May said this month that “now is not the time” for a vote and wants to pull out of the EU first. She argued that the SNP government’s plan to hold a referendum as early as the fall of next year would not give voters enough time to see the results of Brexit.
Sturgeon said last week that she’s open to discussions on the timing of the vote if the UK presents “a clear alternative and the rationale for it,” though she insisted that she has a mandate to call a referendum because Brexit means the status quo is no longer an option.
Should the Edinburgh legislature vote as expected, the Scottish government would then issue a so-called Section 30 request to the UK for the temporary transfer of power to hold another plebiscite, using the previous as precedent. Reports said it could come within days of May writing to the EU on Wednesday to give formal notice to leave.
Scots voted 55 percent to 45 percent to stay in the UK the last time and then 62 percent to 38 percent to remain in the EU in June last year. Bookmakers William Hill Plc puts the chances of another vote by the end of 2020 at 65 percent and that Scots will choose independence when the time comes.
