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Nicola Sturgeon to set out plan for second independence referendum at Holyrood

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date28 June 2022
AuthorChris McCall Deputy Political Editor
Publication titleEdinburghLive (Scotland)
Nicola Sturgeon will elaborate on the SNP's plan to host the national poll and will argue that the SNP's 2021 election victory gives a clear mandate to hold the vote

However, Sturgeon will be grilled by the opposition within Holyrood on how a legally-binding referendum could move forward without the backing of the UK Government in Westminster.

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has continuously claimed that the 2014 referendum result should be respected and that the SNP should abide by their former "once in a generation claim."

Opposition politicians have called on the SNP to instead focus on the crippling cost of living crisis impacting large swathes of the Scottish population, the Daily Record reports.

But Sturgeon is expected to argue the case for a second referendum and has insisted the "democratic will" of Scots must be respected.

She said: "The people of Scotland have elected a Parliament committed to giving them a choice on independence, and so that democratic will must be respected.

"In Scotland, it is the people who are and have always been sovereign – and it is the people's will which must prevail.

"That may be an inconvenient truth for our political opponents, but it is a simple and unavoidable truth nonetheless.

"Continued attempts to block that democratic will only weaken the UK Government's standing, here and internationally.

"Bluntly, the UK Government is in no position to lecture any other country about the need to respect democratic norms if it is intent on trying to thwart democracy at home."

But Anas Sarwar accused the SNP of "trying to drag Scotland back to the politics of the past".

The Scottish Labour leader said: "The SNP are trying to drag Scotland back to the politics of the past instead of dealing with the challenges of the present.

"It is no surprise that Nicola Sturgeon is ramping up her efforts to sow division and strife when we see the chaos in her party and...

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