LONDON – Nationalist lawmakers in Scotland have reiterated their gun for independence and sparked a possible clash with the government of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, saying they would make plans to hold another referendum on secession from the United Kingdom. Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday outlined proposals for a “renewed independence affair”, presenting the first of several policy documents supporting the debate on a vote by the country’s mandated parliament – possibly without the consent of the British government. London says it is legally required. “Scotland is under Westminster control,” Sterzon told reporters. “For Scotland, independence will put the levers of success in our hands.” Scotland’s last independence referendum was held in 2014, when a majority of Scots (55 per cent) voted in favor of staying in the United Kingdom. However, the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) and its pro-independence allies won a majority in the Scottish Parliament in 2021. The SNP rules with the support of the Green Party. “The people of Scotland have elected the Scottish Parliament by a decisive majority in favor of both independence and suffrage. “Therefore, the Scottish Parliament has an unquestionable democratic mandate and we intend to honor that,” he told reporters in Edinburgh. UK cancels flight to deport Rwandan asylum seekers The UK’s divorce from the European Union has also changed the game, Sturgeon claims. Scotland overwhelmingly voted against Brexit, 62 percent against 38 percent, during the 2016 referendum, which said it left Scotland at a “critical juncture”. The SNP has previously stated that it wants to hold a new vote on independence by the end of 2023. Johnson strongly opposes another referendum and said on Tuesday that a decision on independence “was taken by the people of Scotland just a few years ago, in recent memory.” “I think we have to respect that.” He said all governments across the UK should focus on the cost-of-living crisis and the continuing effects of the coronavirus pandemic, urging Sturgeon and other lawmakers to “focus on the things that people really want to deal with”. Why Britain’s plan to scrap part of the Brexit deal is so controversial Sterzon acknowledged that the Johnson’s government would probably question any attempt by the Scottish Parliament to call for a binding referendum without a specific mandate from Westminster, but said this would not deter lawmakers. “Democracy within the rule of law is the way in which differences of political or constitutional views must always be resolved,” he said. “If we want to support democracy here in Scotland, we have to find a way forward. “However, we must do it legally.” Such a vote could break the now-300-year-old union between Scotland and England. Wales and Northern Ireland also have smaller, decentralized parliaments within the UK. They legislate on issues such as education and healthcare, but rely on Westminster for most funding and other important functions, such as defense. John Curtice, a leading Scottish pollster and professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, told the BBC on Tuesday that the polls were basically “split in half”. “If you take the last half dozen polls, on average they show yes 48, no 52,” he said on the issue of independence. “Both sides need to campaign, because at the moment no side in the conflict can be sure of victory.” Some Scottish newspapers accused Sturgeon on Wednesday of succumbing to pressure to “calm down its political base”, and opposition lawmakers there called her announcement a distraction. “The same old speech by Nicola Sturgeon,” said Scottish Labor Party leader Anas Sarwar. “She is the one who brings us back to the politics of the past, focusing on division and strife and trying to pit the Scots against the Scots.”
