Sturgeon said its top legal official would refer the matter to the UK Supreme Court for an “advisory” referendum to see if it was within her government’s power to hold such a vote. If the court does not rule in favor of the Scottish government, Sturgeon said the UK general election in 2024 would be a “de facto” referendum with the Scottish National Party on the single issue of independence. The SNP won last year’s Scottish Parliament elections with a commitment to hold an independence referendum. With the Scottish Greens, who are also in favor of the vote, the SNP government has a majority in the Edinburgh parliament. “Scotland will have its say in independence,” Sturgeon told parliament. “I want the process that started today to lead to a legal, constitutional referendum.” He said the question in the referendum would be “Should Scotland be an independent country?” He added that he referred the issue of the referendum to the courts to ensure that any vote was credible and internationally recognized. Sturgeon’s preferred date, October 19, 2023, would come just over nine years after the Scots rejected independence in a 55% vs. 45% referendum. Polls now show that Scots are strongly opposed to independence, with experts saying neither side can be sure of victory in a run-off. The 2014 referendum was made possible by then-Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who agreed to pass a so-called Article 30 provision authorizing the Scottish Government to conduct the vote. Johnson’s refusal to approve another referendum forced Sturgeon to look for a way to bypass his government’s opposition to the Tories while organizing a legitimate vote. In a letter to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sterzon noted with regret that Johnson had refused to issue an Article 30 decree allowing a second referendum. He said he had to go to court for legal clarity in the face of Westminster’s refusal to recognize Scotland’s right to an independence referendum. “In a voluntary union of nations where the people of a nation voted in an election to order a referendum, it is, in my view, democratically unacceptable that the path to a referendum should be through the courts,” he wrote. in her letter to Johnson. The Johnson administration said “now is not the time to talk about another independence referendum.” Johnson said while traveling to the NATO summit in Madrid: “The focus of the country must be on building a stronger economy. . . “I definitely believe that we will be able to have a stronger economy and a stronger country together.” Opposition parties in Edinburgh said Sturgeon had no contact with Scottish voters, adding that people were concerned about the cost of the crisis, education and health. Anas Sarwar, Labor leader in Scotland, said Sturgeon’s parliamentary statement was about the “SNP having some significance” in the 2024 general election in the United Kingdom. Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has proposed that his party boycott a new referendum.

He said the Tories would not take part in “a pretense of polls when there is real work to be done” and accused Sturgeon of “setting the country ‘s top priorities behind”. Ciaran Martin, a former civil servant who led the Cameron government’s negotiating team during the 2014 vote, said he was not sure there was “great legal meaning” to Sturgeon’s commitment to hold a “consultative” referendum. He added that the language was most likely designed to give Scottish Government legislation “maximum chance” of legal success.