WESTMINSTER oppos-ition to another indep-endence referendum in Scotland will be washed away by a major win by the SNP at the upcoming General Election, Nicola Sturgeon has predicted.
Writing exclusively in the National’s magazine celebrating the fifth anniversary of the 2014 referendum, the First Minister said the actions of the UK Government since then had made independence “all but inevitable”.
And she revealed that a formal approach to the UK Government for the transfer of power will be made by Holyrood – before the independence referendum Bill currently going through the Scottish Parliament completes its passage.
Sturgeon points out that not only has support for independence increased, so has backing for another referendum on the issue.
“No Westminster government, of any party, has the right to stand in the way of the sovereign right of the people of Scotland to determine their own future,” she wrote.
“A win for the SNP in any upcoming election will simply reinforce that – the Westminster wall of opposition to indyref2 has already started to crumble in recent weeks, and another election win for the SNP will wash it away.”
Sturgeon said independence is now all but inevitable because of the actions of “the most dangerous, reckless and irresponsible government the UK has had to endure in modern times”.
She accused the Tory government of “arrogantly and high-handedly dismissing and ignoring Scotland’s views” and as a result the country now faces being taken out of the European Union, despite voting to remain.
Even worse, the new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has taken the whole of the UK to the brink of a No-Deal Brexit, Sturgeon said.
“Boris Johnson has no majority, no mandate and no right whatsoever to try and drag Scotland and the rest of the UK over the calamitous cliff edge of a No-Deal Brexit – an outcome that wasn’t on the ballot paper in 2016 and which literally no-one has voted for,” said Sturgeon.
“Scotland said no to Brexit and we meant it. That is a message the SNP will take into any forthcoming election – along with a crystal clear message that Scotland must have the right to choose independence, within the current Holyrood term of parliament, with the mandate we already have.
“The Bill paving the way for the next independence referendum is already going through the Scottish Parliament, and before it completes its passage at Holyrood we will make the formal approach to Westminster for the transfer of power that will put a referendum beyond legal challenge.”
Sturgeon warned that the Tories’ actions since 2016 carry an important lesson for the Yes movement: “While I disagree profoundly with Brexit, there was nothing inevitable about the shambles it has become.”
She contrasts the “preposterous promises” of the Brexit Leave campaign with the way the 2014 independence referendum was conducted, when voters had access to the White Paper published by the Scottish Government.
“That work will be updated before the next referendum,” she added.
Sturgeon said the 2014 referendum had changed Scotland fundamentally for the better. “I believe, with head and heart, that when the time comes Scotland will vote Yes to an independent future – and that is perhaps the greatest legacy of the historic campaign of 2014.”
Read Nicola Sturgeon’s full article in our magazine to celebrate the 2014 indyref
Pre-order your limited edition today at www.thenational.scot/shop
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