Scotland鈥檚 first minister Nicola Sturgeon says she plans to trigger another independence referendum. The Scottish National Party leader said the new poll should be in 2018 or 2019, reported on March 13.
鈥淩ight now, Scotland stands at a hugely important crossroads,鈥 Sturgeon said, referring to the 鈥淏rexit鈥 vote that will take all of Britain out of the European Union, despite a majority in Scotland voting to remain.
聽鈥淲e didn鈥檛 choose to be in this position,鈥 Sturgeon said. 鈥淏ut we are, and the stakes are high 鈥 so we must have a plan for the way forward.鈥
In a 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, 55% of voters backed remaining part of Britain. The establishment-backed 鈥淣o鈥 side ran a scaremongering campaign based on fear that included, among other things, the insistence that an independent Scotland would be unable to join the EU 鈥 a claim dramatically turned on its head by Britain鈥檚 鈥淏rexit鈥 vote.
IRN said that Sturgeon also pointed to the likelihood of a hard-right Conservative government taking back powers already devolved to Edinburgh, while pushing austerity measures to undermine living standards.
鈥淚n short, it is not just our relationship with Europe that is at stake,鈥 she said. 鈥淲hat is at stake is the kind of country we will become.鈥
In response, Irish republican party Sinn Fein has reiterated its call for a 鈥渂order poll鈥 on a united Ireland. Most voters in Northern Ireland also backed staying in the EU, creating momentum for calls to unite the six counties of Northern Ireland with the 26 Irish counties that make up the Irish republic, which is part of the EU.
The Belfast Telegraph reported that Sinn Fein鈥檚 Northern Ireland leader Michelle O鈥橬eill said: 鈥淏rexit would be a disaster for the economy and the people of Ireland.
"To us in Sinn Fein that increases the urgency for the need of a referendum on Irish unity and that needs to happen as soon as possible."
Welsh nationalists have also used Sturgeon鈥檚 call to reiterate calls for Welsh self-determination, The Independent said on March 14.
Welsh nationalist party 聽leader Leanne Wood said Scottish independence would 鈥渓ead to the end of the UK as a state鈥 and said 鈥渋n that situation聽Wales would need to decide its own future鈥. She called for a debate 鈥渢o explore all of the options, including that of independent Wales鈥.
Wood said: 鈥淚f the UK Government鈥檚 Brexit negotiation also leads to the Welsh national interest being overlooked, support will grow for greater control of our own affairs in Wales.