Sturgeon warns against blocking vote

SCOTLAND'S FIRST Minister has claimed it would be 'unacceptable' for Britain's next prime minister to try and block a second independence referendum.
Nicola SturgeonNicola Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon

Nicola Sturgeon also held open the possibility of using mechanisms in the Scottish Parliament to try and block Britain’s exit from the EU.

Scotland overwhelmingly voted Remain last week and the SNP have raised the prospect of holding another independence vote before the UK keaves the EU.

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Ms Sturgeon said: ‘’If the Scottish Parliament votes to have another referendum in circumstances where that is the only thing we think we can do to protect our interests then frankly it is inconceivable that a Westminster government, who have thrust this situation upon us, would seek to block that, and I would seriously caution any prime minister, present or future, against doing that.

‘’It would be completely democratically unacceptable.’’

Pointing to the case the SNP would make in a second referendum, Ms Sturgeon suggested the decision to leave the EU had changed the dynamic of the Scottish independence debate where a vote to breakaway from the Union would now be a vote for the status quo rather than the unknown.

She said: “This is not about Scotland wanting to leave anywhere, this is about Scotland wanting to stay and protect the situation we’ve got just now.

“So if anything the moral case we’ve got for keeping our own pound and for keeping the circumstances we have right now is even stronger than in 2014.”