A decision that is made “once in a generation,” as Boris Johnson recently described the process. The British Prime Minister was referring to the independence referendum in Scotland, which last took place in 2014, when 55 percent of Scots voted against secession from the United Kingdom. For Johnson and the British government, the issue is closed, and for a long time. It is ironic that Johnson of all people is the main reason why many Scots see things differently.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants to find out how many Scots exactly. She announced on Tuesday in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh that she wanted to hold another referendum on the question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?” She suggested October 19, 2023 as the date. In the afternoon, her government submitted a corresponding application to the British Supreme Court.
Sturgeon’s statement follows her announcement a few weeks ago that she intends to implement her election promise made last year: Sturgeons won the 2021 Scottish election SNP With 47 percent of the votes, together with the Greens, it has since formed the regional government. Both parties promised to lead Scotland to another referendum.
62 percent of Scots voted against Brexit
“Now is the time,” Sturgeon said in a speech that was repeatedly interrupted by heckling and applause. She will “never, ever” allow “Scottish democracy to be a prisoner of Boris Johnson”. That’s exactly what Sturgeon is doing right now: “The Tories ripped us out of the EU,” Sturgeon said. In the 2016 Brexit referendum, 62 percent of Scots voted against leaving the EU, and the consequences of Brexit, such as the badly battered British economy, are considered the main drivers behind many Scots’ desire to be independent.
So far, however, there is no clear majority. The Scottish Polling Institute ScottCen has been measuring Scots’ desire for independence regularly since 2016, taking into account several surveys. Accordingly, in autumn 2020 there was a majority for independence, but overall the values fluctuate. Currently, 45 percent of Scots would vote for independence, 46 percent against. But Sturgeon knows that as long as Boris Johnson, who is enormously unpopular in Scotland, lives and works in Downing Street, her government has a chance at all. She said on Tuesday that Labor and the Liberal Democrats would also be of no help on the independence issue should the Tories lose the next general election “as they deserve” – but Westminster’s enemy image probably only works with Tories led by Johnson.
Johnson wants to refuse a binding referendum. It’s more of a referendum
From a legal point of view, the government in London must agree to a referendum, and Johnson has made it clear several times that he will not do so. Sturgeon, in turn, now emphasized that there would be no illegal referendum with her. Hence the request to the Supreme Court for a referendum, which would not be automatically binding. In other words, should a majority vote for independence, that would not result in independence immediately, but would rather have the value of a referendum. After all, a lot is still unclear, such as whether an independent Scotland would actually rejoin the EU.
If the Supreme Court rejects the request, Sturgeon said her party will run in the next election solely on the independence question – the election would thus be converted into a referendum. However, Sturgeon himself seems aware that it will not come to that. The Scottish herald reported on Tuesday that a team of 20 officials had already been assembled in Edinburgh to work on the referendum campaign. Cost point: About 1.4 million euros.