BORIS Johnson has rejected the First Minister's request for a Section 30 order to be granted.
The Prime Minister published a letter explaining he would not grant the powers for any future independence referendums to be held and arguing the 2014 vote was promised as a "once in a lifetime" opportunity.
Today I have written to Nicola Sturgeon. The Scottish people voted decisively to keep our United Kingdom together, a result which both the Scottish and UK Governments committed to respect.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 14, 2020
Let's make 2020 a year of growth and opportunity for the whole of the UK 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/JjQp3X2J2n
Nicola Sturgeon had requested the necessary powers for a second independence referendum be transferred following the SNP's General Election performance, which saw the party take 47 of Scotland's 59 seats.
READ MORE: Johnson publishes response to SNP's Section 30 request
READ MORE: Boris Johnson's reply to Nicola Sturgeon's Section 30 request
Below is the First Minister's full statement in response to the Tory leader's decision to reject the request.
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The Tories are terrified of Scotland having the right to choose our own future. They know that given the choice the overwhelming likelihood is that people will choose the positive option of independence.
The Tories – and their allies in the leaderships of Labour and the LibDems – lack any positive case for the Union, so all they can do is try to block democracy.
It shows utter contempt for the votes, views and interests of the people of Scotland and it is a strategy that is doomed to failure.
While today’s response is not surprising – indeed we anticipated it – it will not stand. It is not politically sustainable for any Westminster government to stand in the way of the right of the people of Scotland to decide their own future and to seek to block the clear democratic mandate for an independence referendum.
The problem for the UK Government is that the longer they try to block a referendum, the more they demonstrate that the Westminster Union is not a partnership of equals and the more support for independence will grow.
It will also mean for the Tories that the loss of half of their seats suffered at the recent general election – fought by them on the sole issue of opposition to an independence referendum – will be only the start of their road back to political oblivion in Scotland.
In short, as well as being unsustainable, the position set out today by the UK Government is also an entirely self-defeating one.
The Scottish Government will set out our response and next steps later this month when we will also ask the Scottish Parliament to again endorse Scotland’s right to choose.
One thing, though, is clear – the people of Scotland will get the right to decide our own future in an independence referendum. The Westminster union cannot be sustained without consent. Democracy will prevail.
The only question is how long it will take the Tories and the rest of the Westminster establishment to accept that inevitability.
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