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Scotland Leader Launches Campaign for New Independence Vote

SNicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of the cottish nation, said that she would push for independence through all legal channels as her government tries reenergize the campaign to Leave the U.K.

Her Scottish National Party administration published the first in a series of papers that together will form the “prospectus for how an independent Scotland would work.” They will look at the economy, currency, and comparative prospects with other smaller European countries.

When the SNP won Scottish Parliamentary elections in May last year, Sturgeon pledged to resume her campaign to create Europe’s newest nation state after the pandemic. Sturgeon’s problem is, however, that Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, refuses to allow Scotland to vote again. The legal power to conduct a referendum was transferred by the London government, known as the Section 30 order.

Sturgeon said the Scottish Parliament has an “indisputable democratic mandate” to deliver a referendum. She said that any referendum must be legal. “If this UK government had any respect at all for democracy, the issue of legality would be put beyond doubt,” she told reporters in Edinburgh on Tuesday. “We must forge a way forward, if necessary without a Section 30 order. But we must do so in a lawful manner.”

Scotland was voted in favour of remaining in the UK by 55% to 45 percent in 2014. Recent opinion polls have shown that the country with 5.5 million inhabitants is roughly evenly divided on this issue. Sturgeon, who was opposed to the E.U. exit by the majority of Scottish voters in 2015, has advocated for another referendum.

Continue reading: Scotland to Rejoin E.U. Is there a way for Scotland to rejoin the EU after Brexit?

The Scottish government released legal advice last week indicating that Edinburgh’s ministers can pursue work on independent policy. But the document didn’t say whether they had the right to hold a referendum unilaterally and the question could end up in court if Sturgeon pushes ahead with a referendum bill, which was already drafted.

Conservatives and the Labour Party oppose Sturgeon’s focus on improving the education system and fixing Scotland’s control over transportation, taxation and other areas. Sturgeon and her comrades want full control over the economy and foreign policy and the right to join the E.U.

Johnson will not back down or grant Sturgeon’s request for 2023 voting. Prime Minister is fighting a rebel faction within his Conservative Party. He was forced to confront them last week when they triggered a motion de no confidence in him. He was victorious, even though 148 members of parliament voted against him.

Continue reading: What’s Next for Boris Johnson After Confidence Vote?

He faces opposition over plans to end a part of the Brexit agreement that includes Northern Ireland.

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