{"id":60016,"date":"2020-01-28T11:44:31","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T03:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=60016"},"modified":"2020-01-28T11:44:33","modified_gmt":"2020-01-28T03:44:33","slug":"brexit-fuels-calls-for-second-scottish-independence-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=60016","title":{"rendered":"Brexit fuels calls for second Scottish independence vote"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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EDINBURGH, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain\u2019s departure from the European Union has revived the debate for an independent Scotland, which was thought to have been settled in a landmark referendum nearly six years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scots voted by a majority of 55 percent to remain part of the United Kingdom in 2014, effectively taking the issue off the table in what was described as a \u201conce-in-a-generation\u201d decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But nationalists argue Brexit represents a material change in Scotland\u2019s constitutional arrangements with the UK government in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some 62 percent of people north of the border voted to remain in the EU in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is now prompting some who voted \u201cno\u201d to independence in 2014 but \u201cyes\u201d to stay in the bloc to shift their attitudes on Scotland going its own way after more than 300 years of union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Minister of Scotland\u2019s devolved parliament, Nicola Sturgeon, has in recent months been ramping up the pressure for a new independence referendum \u2014 dubbed \u201cindyref2\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sturgeon wrote to Britain\u2019s Prime Minister Boris Johnson after the December general election, at which her Scottish National Party (SNP) won a landslide across Scotland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he said London would not transfer powers to Edinburgh to hold another referendum, arguing it would \u201ccontinue the political stagnation that Scotland has seen for the last decade\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sturgeon accused Johnson\u2019s ruling Conservatives of ignoring the will of the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe problem for the Tories is the longer they try to block democracy, the more they show the Westminster union is not one of equals and fuel support for independence,\u201d she wrote on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Scottish government is expected to set out its response and next steps in the coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stand-off could trigger a legal challenge but experts warn such an approach is unlikely to be successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhether there is a second referendum \u2014 and if so, on what terms \u2013 is a political question that will be resolved in the political arena,\u201d the UK Constitutional Law Association assessed in a paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are no legal short cuts through that space,\u201d Chris McCorkindale and Aileen McHarg added in the article, \u201cConstitutional Pathways to a Second Scottish Referendum\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sturgeon has said the SNP has a mandate for independence based on previous victories in general and Scottish parliamentary elections that have increasingly backed her party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That has prompted many to point out that it may be prudent for her and fellow nationalists to wait for the next Scottish elections in 2021 to secure more political and moral leverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SNP\u2019s leader in the UK parliament, Ian Blackford, has said Conservative cabinet ministers had conceded that \u201cWestminster cannot keep saying \u2018no\u2019 to a second referendum on independence\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told the Herald newspaper in an interview that Tory ministers have told him privately that \u201cthis is a line which is going to be difficult to hold in the longer term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro-independence marches are a common sight on the streets of Scotland\u2019s main cities of Glasgow, in the west, and Edinburgh, 80 kilometres away in the east.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, an estimated 80,000 people braved icy winds and torrential rain, waving blue and white Saltire flags and calling for an end to \u201cLondon rule\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even if London agrees to allow a second referendum, nationalists still face a battle to secure the support of a majority of their compatriots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polls over the past year consistently show no clear majority for either side, making any result too close to call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any economic damage from Brexit in the coming years, however, could fuel Scottish discontent and increase the chances of a \u201cyes\u201d vote to independence. — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDINBURGH, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain\u2019s departure from the European Union has revived the debate for an independent Scotland, which was thought to have been settled in a landmark referendum nearly six years ago. Scots voted by a majority of 55 percent to remain part of the United Kingdom in 2014, effectively taking the issue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[209],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60016"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60016\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}