Scotland to hold 2nd independence vote next October if Supreme Court backs it

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – Scotland will hold a second independence referendum on Oct. 19 next year if the Supreme Court allows it, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced on Monday.

Speaking at her Scottish National Party (SNP) conference in Aberdeen, Sturgeon said the Supreme Court will consider whether the current law allows the Scottish Parliament to legislate for an advisory referendum.

“If Westminster had any respect at all for Scottish democracy, this court hearing would not be necessary. But Westminster has no such respect,” she added.

Sturgeon had previously vowed to hold a second referendum by the end of 2023.

She told the conference that "Scotland has got what it takes to be a successful, independent country," adding that her government will publish papers making the economic case for independence.

Sturgeon said the Westminster government has delivered more austerity and hardship, sending “hundreds of thousands” into poverty.

"It is chaos and catastrophe," she said.

In a lengthy speech, attacking both the Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party, Sturgeon said Labour was "willing to throw Scotland under [former Prime Minister] Boris Johnson's Brexit bus" on their way to Westminster.

"We need Scotland's independence to fix the problem," namely the Westminster government, she said.

The central UK government has constantly rejected the idea of a new referendum on Scottish independence, repeatedly saying that Scots made their choice in a 2014 referendum.

However, Sturgeon has argued that circumstances have changed with Brexit, with Scotland dragged out of the EU against its will as 62% voted to remain part of the bloc in 2016.

The first referendum that asked Scottish voters whether they would want to break free from the UK was held in 2014, two years before the historic EU referendum.

The government under then-Prime Minister David Cameron pledged better understanding for Scots from Westminster and “extensive new powers” for the Scottish parliament.

The SNP, the party which led the independence campaign, had full confidence that the country would survive and even be better off outside the UK, strengthened by the nation’s oil fields in the North Sea, world-famous malt whiskey, textile, jet engines, and various banking and financial services.

But Scots rejected separation from the rest of the UK, as just over 2 million votes (55.3%) were cast to remain part of the kingdom, while 1.62 million (44.7%) people voted for independence.