Scotland's leader says she hopes to hold an independence referendum as soon as next year, setting up a political showdown with a UK government that refuses to countenance another secession vote.
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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would campaign in the May 2021 Scottish parliament election for a mandate to hold a vote on independence "in the early part of the new parliament" which will run from 2021 to 2025.
In a speech to a conference of her Scottish National Party - held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic - Sturgeon said Scotland had a right to choose independence "if a majority of us want it".
"That inalienable right of self-determination cannot, and will not, be subject to a Westminster veto," she said, referring to the UK government in London.
Scotland voted to remain in the UK by a margin of 55 per cent-45 per cent in a 2014 independence referendum that was billed as a once-in-a-generation event.
A new binding referendum requires the UK government's approval and Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists he'll say no.
"The people of Scotland had a vote on this (in 2014), and they voted to remain part of the United Kingdom," Johnson spokesman Jamie Davies said Monday.
Sturgeon has not said what she will do if the UK government refuses to grant a referendum, though some pro-independence campaigners have suggested she could seek a ruling from the UK Supreme Court.
Australian Associated Press
