EU referendum: A Brexit vote could spark a Scottish independence rerun, warns Nicola Sturgeon
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday warned Prime Minister David Cameron that a Brexit could spark another independence referendum north of the border.
Speaking at the SNP conference in Aberdeen, Sturgeon said taking Scotland out of the EU will result in a surge of demand for yet another in/out vote.
“If you try to take Scotland out of the EU against our democratic wishes, you will be breaching the terms of last year’s vote,” Sturgeon said
“In those circumstances, you may well find that the demand for a second independence referendum is unstoppable.”
Sturgeon said, however, that the nationalists would not propose another referendum without “strong evidence” that many people who voted “No” in the September 2014 referendum have changed their minds.
Sturgeon’s party faces a re-election challenge in May next year as Scots go to the polls to vote for a new parliament. Currently, the party looks set to regain power for a third time in a row.
In an interview with the BBC, the first minister said: “That [winning next year’s election] in and of itself I don’t think makes another referendum inevitable because many people I hope – and I take nothing for granted – but I hope vote SNP who didn’t support independence, who might not support independence yet, and who might never support independence.”
Sturgeon would not be drawn, however, on whether a second referendum would take place while she was in charge.