LONDON (Reuters) – Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will on Thursday demand the right to hold a new independence referendum, challenging Prime Minister Boris Johnson to keep the United Kingdom together as he grapples with its coming split from the European Union.
FILE PHOTO: Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson poses for a photograph with Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at Bute House in Edinburgh, Britain, July 29, 2019. Duncan McGlynn/Pool via REUTERS
A month before Britain embarks on its momentous journey out of the EU, Sturgeon will say she has won a mandate to call for a fresh independence vote after winning 47 of the 59 seats in Scotland in last week’s election, 11 more than in 2017.
Sturgeon, who heads Edinburgh’s pro-independence devolved government, will publish a document called “Scotland’s Right to Choose”, demanding Britain’s parliament transfer the power to Scotland’s devolved parliament to authorise a new referendum, setting the stage for a constitutional stand-off.
It is ultimately up to the British parliament to decide whether Scotland can hold a new referendum, and Johnson’s government has repeatedly said it will reject any demand for another vote.
“There is a clear mandate for this nation to have the power to decide its own future,” Sturgeon will say, according to extracts released by her office. “The re
