THE First Minister will today outline her position on Brexit and Scotland’s future as she begins her visit to the United States.
Speaking at the start of Women World Leaders Week at Georgetown’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security in Washington DC, Nicola Sturgeon is expected to address how Scotland has been “ignored” in the Brexit process, and reiterate her plans to address the indyref2 question soon.
She will say: “In 2016 the UK voted to leave the European Union by a margin of 52% to 48%. But the vote in Scotland was very different – we opted to remain by 62% to 38%. So as things stand, on March 29, in just 53 days’ time , Scotland will be taken out of the European Union against our democratic will.
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“We are often told in Scotland that the United Kingdom is a partnership of equals. Yet two parts of the UK – Scotland and Northern Ireland – voted to remain in the EU. The two others – Wales and England – voted to leave.
“The vote in Scotland has been ignored. And over the two and a half years since the vote took place, our interests have been sidelined. It is impossible to reconcile any of that process with the idea of the UK as an equal partnership.”
She will add that at the independence referendum, voters were told staying in the UK guaranteed their EU membership – and that the Brexit process has made people question whether Scotland’s decisions should be made at Westminster.
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She will continue: “So I have said I will outline my thoughts on the timing of a possible independence referendum in the next few weeks – once the terms of Brexit are clearer.
“But, amid the chaos, confusion and uncertainty of Brexit, one thing is clearer than ever. Namely, that Scotland’s vital national interests are not properly served by relying on the Westminster system which treats Scotland as an afterthought, and that those interests can only properly be served by being an independent country.”
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