NICOLA Sturgeon has promised voters that a decision on the timing of a second referendum on Scottish independence will be made in the “not too distant future”.
Her comments come after a chaotic week in Westminster with the draft Brexit agreement secured by Theresa May sparking a number of resignations, and calls for a leadership contest.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme, the First Minister said Northern Ireland having a deeper relationship with the single market than the rest of the UK would put Scotland at “real disadvantage”.
She added: “Wait until the dust settles. I will come forward with my views on what I think on the appropriate next steps for Scotland specifically in the not too distant future, but I think it’s reasonable to allow the dust to settle.
“We could be facing another General Election, we could be facing another Brexit vote.
“But one thing is beyond any doubt – the implications, the consequences of Scotland not being in independent have been very stark in the last few months, and particularly in the last week.”
The First Minister is under increasing pressure from independence supporters to name the date for a second vote.
In June last year, the SNP leader told MSPs that when the terms of Brexit were “clearer” she would set out the government’s judgment “on the best way forward at that time, including our view on the precise timescale for offering people a choice over the country’s future”.
During First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, the Green MSP Patrick Harvie argued that there was “already enough clarity to make a judgment”.
There is mounting pressure within her own party too.
Last week, SNP MP Angus Brendan MacNeil wrote to Theresa May asking if Scotland returning a majority of SNP MPs would be seen as a mandate for independence, or if she will “acquiesce to a section 30 order” to allow Scotland to hold a referendum.
MacNeil said: “It’s up to the people of Scotland to choose their own future.
“You only have to look to Ireland to see the success they have had as part of the Brexit discussions whereas in Scotland the UK Government has ignored at every opportunity the sensible compromises the Scottish Government has proposed. “
At the weekend, Chris McEleny, who leads the SNP on Inverclyde council, and who has twice pitched to become the party’s depute leader, backed MacNeil’s call, and added his name to the letter.
The councillor said: “We have been clear that our preferred route to deliver independence is through a referendum in line with the mechanisms put in place with the Edinburgh Agreement. However, if the UK Government continues to attempt to prevent the people of Scotland from taking part in an independence referendum then we need to stand ready to deliver our independence by putting that mandate front and centre at the next election. “
In a speech to mark his first year in office, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said the turmoil of Brexit would be nothing compared with that of Scotland leaving the UK.
He called for a General Election.
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