Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon set out her plans to hold an independence referendum on 19 October 2023 on Tuesday as she looked for a way to avoid Boris Johnson’s refusal to authorize a vote.
Sturgeon said his senior legal officer would refer the legislation for a “consultative” referendum to the UK Supreme Court, to establish whether it was within the authority of his government to hold that vote.
If the court did not rule in favor of the Scottish government, Sturgeon said the UK general election scheduled for 2024 would become a “de facto” referendum with his Scottish national party standing on the single issue of independence.
The SNP won the Scottish Parliament elections last year with a commitment to hold an independence referendum. With the Scottish Greens, who also favor the vote, the SNP government has a majority in the Edinburgh parliament.
“Scotland will have its opinion on independence,” Sturgeon told parliament. “I want the process launched today to lead to a legal and constitutional referendum.”
He said the referendum question would be “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
He added that he referred the issue of the referendum to the courts to ensure that any vote was credible and internationally recognized.
Sturgeon’s preferred date, October 19, 2023, would come just over nine years after the Scots rejected independence in a 55 to 45 per cent referendum.
Opinion polls now suggest the Scots are closely opposed to independence, and experts say neither side could be sure of victory in a repeat.
The 2014 referendum was made possible by then-Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who agreed to issue a so-called Article 30 order authorizing the Scottish government to hold the vote.
Johnson’s refusal to pass another referendum has forced Sturgeon to look for a way to avoid opposition from his Conservative government while holding a legal vote.
In a letter to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sturgeon noted with regret that Johnson had refused to issue a section 30 order authorizing a second referendum.
He said he had to go to court for legal clarity in the face of Westminster’s refusal to recognize Scotland’s right to an independence referendum.
“In a voluntary union of nations where the people of a nation have voted in elections to give a mandate for a referendum, it is, in my view, democratically unacceptable that the path to a referendum should be through the courts. “, he wrote. in his letter to Johnson.
The Johnson administration said “now is not the time to talk about another independence referendum.”
Johnson said while traveling to a NATO summit in Madrid: “The country’s focus should be on building a stronger economy… I certainly think we will be able to have a stronger economy and a country. stronger together “.
Opposition parties in Edinburgh said Sturgeon was not in contact with Scottish voters, adding that people were concerned about the crisis in the cost of living, education and health.
Anas Sarwar, leader of Scottish Labor, said Sturgeon’s parliamentary statement was about “the SNP has some relevance” in the 2024 general election in the UK.
Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, suggested his party would boycott a new referendum.
He said the Conservatives would not participate “in a mock poll when there is real work to be done” and accused Sturgeon of “putting the country’s top priorities in the background”.
Ciaran Martin, a former official who led the Cameron government’s negotiating team during the 2014 vote, said he wasn’t sure there was “much legal significance” to Sturgeon’s promise to hold a “consultative” referendum.
He added that the language was probably designed to give Scottish government legislation the “maximum chance” of legal success.