Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon to seek independence vote

The SNP won another 13 seats in the House of Commons in Thursday’s election, taking the party’s tally up to 48 of the total of 59 in Scotland.

The leader of the Scottish National Party, which made strong gains in the British election, says Prime Minister Boris Johnson has “no right” to stand in the way of a fresh independence referendum for Scotland.

Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon speaks at a counting centre for Britain's general election in Glasgow, Britain. (REUTERS)

Nicola Sturgeon, who is Scotland’s first minister, said she will next week publish plans for a second independence vote.

The SNP won another 13 seats in the House of Commons in Thursday’s election, taking the party’s tally up to 48 of the total of 59 in Scotland.

Sturgeon says she will not be asking for Johnson’s permission to hold another vote.

She says it is an assertion of the democratic right of the Scots to decide their future. Addressing her remarks to Johnson, she says “it is the right of the people of Scotland - and you as the leader of a defeated party in Scotland have no right to stand in the way.” Following his convincing victory, Johnson has said Britain will leave the European Union on the scheduled departure date of January 31.

In the Brexit referendum of June 2016, Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. The wider UK voted 52-48 in favour of Brexit.

Five years ago, Scottish voters rejected independence by a margin of around 10 percentage points in what was billed as a once-in-a-generation referendum.

Sturgeon says the Brexit vote across the whole of the UK means Scotland will be leaving the EU against its will and as a result it has the right to have another independence referendum. (AP) IND