SCOTLAND’S democratic will must prevail, Nicola Sturgeon said as she prepared to unveil her government’s route map to a second independence referendum.
Today the First Minister will present her plan for moving forward with indyref2 while Westminster continues to resist the effort.
Boris Johnson has repeatedly ruled out approving a Section 30 order – the transfer of powers which allowed the 2014 vote to go ahead.
Despite this, Sturgeon has pledged to hold a fresh vote on Scotland’s place in the Union by 2023, with her Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson floating October as the month that the referendum could take place.
It has been reported that Sturgeon is considering holding a “consultative” referendum, as opposed to a legally binding one, in a bid to circumvent potential legal issues.
In a statement to Holyrood from 2.20pm, which will be livestreamed across The National’s social media accounts, Sturgeon will explain exactly how she intends to move ahead towards that vote without the UK Government’s co-operation.
It marks the first follow-up statement to her first “scene-setter” publication, released earlier this month, comparing Scotland in the Union to other small countries around Europe and exploring the UK’s “enduring structural problems”.
“The people of Scotland have elected a Parliament committed to giving them a choice on independence, and so that democratic will must be respected,” the First Minister said last night.
“In Scotland, it is the people who are and have always been sovereign – and it is the people’s will which must prevail.
“That may be an inconvenient truth for our political opponents, but it is a simple and unavoidable truth nonetheless.”
Sturgeon added that the Tories repeatedly ruling out indyref2 will only weaken the Government’s standing with its own people and on the international stage.
“Bluntly, the UK Government is in no position to lecture any other country about the need to respect democratic norms if it is intent on trying to thwart democracy at home,” she said.
“And, because we live in a democracy where election results still matter, continued efforts to thwart the will of the people must – and will – fail.”
Members of the UK Government have made their opposition to indyref2 clear, with House of Commons leader Mark Spencer telling MPs that another vote should not be held until 2039 at the earliest.
The Prime Minister has suggested that the next vote shouldn’t happen until much later than that, flagging up 2055 as a potential date.
Meanwhile, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, who is both an MSP and MP, has been referring to a vote held without UK consent as a “pretend referendum”.
Appearing on the BBC at the weekend, he refused to engage with questions on independence, and insisted an indyref2 not signed off by Westminster would be a “waste of time”.
Last night, Sturgeon argued that these kinds of arguments suggest that the UK is not a voluntary Union and would have the opposite of the intended effect.
“The UK is either a partnership of consent or it is not a partnership worthy of the name,” she said. “Westminster rule over Scotland cannot be based on anything other than a consented, voluntary partnership.
“It is time to give people the democratic choice they have voted for, and then with independence to build a more prosperous, fairer country in a true partnership of equals between Scotland and our friends in the rest of the UK.”
Commenting ahead of the First Minister's statement to parliament today, Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater said: “Both the Scottish Green Party and the SNP committed, in our respective election manifestos, to holding a referendum in this parliamentary session. Our parties won more votes and more seats than the three unionist parties. The mandate to hold a referendum is crystal clear. The people will have their say. “That mandate is fundamentally about democracy. The people of Scotland are sovereign, they alone get to decide how they are governed. “It is my belief that with independence we will build a fairer and greener Scotland. A Scotland that rejects the hostile environment, rejects climate catastrophe, and embraces an outward looking approach to global affairs. I believe that when the people are given that choice next year, that’s what they will vote for.”
