Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), has said that she will call a unilateral referendum on independence if Westminster refuses to sanction one.
Earlier this week Sturgeon said that she would call an ‘advisory’ referendum on Scottish independence if her party won May’s Scottish Parliament elections. Sturgeon said this would take place with or without permission from London.
The SNP currently governs as a minority government. Most opinion polls ahead of the vote show that the SNP would narrowly win an outright majority in May.
A referendum in 2014 on independence narrowly saw the Scots opt to remain part of the United Kingdom. However, the subsequent Brexit vote and Covid-19 crisis have seen support for independence grow, and most Scots now want to be independent, according to opinion polls.
Sturgeon was quoted as saying: ‘The polls now show that a majority of people in Scotland want independence. If the SNP win the Scottish election in a few months’ time on the proposition of giving the people that choice, then what democrat could rightly stand in the way of that?’
Another opinion poll found a narrow majority of people living in Northern Ireland supported a vote on its future. Opinion polls showed a narrow majority supported the status quo, only slightly ahead of those who would prefer reunification with the Republic of Ireland.
[Picture: Arctic Circle, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84955570]