Scottish First Minister Announces Plan to Hold Independence Referendum on 19 Oct 2023

In 2014, Scotland held a referendum when its inhabitants were asked if the country should become independent from the UK. More than 2 million people voted against independence at the time, whereas a little more than 1.6 million voted 'Yes'.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has unveiled plans to hold another independence referendum in the country that could take place on 19 October 2023.

A video of Sturgeon explaining the reasons for such a decision has emerged online.

Scotland has been 'ripped out of the EU against our will' and "saddled with the lowest growth in the G20" says Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as she sets out plans to carry out a second referendum on Scottish independence.https://t.co/s1wtVBXER4

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According to Sturgeon, the Scots will again have an opportunity to voice their view on whether the country should become independent from the UK.

Sturgeon said that the parliament will publish a draft Bill on an independence referendum, adding that the referendum itself should be legal and viewed as a fact and not just a public opinion. She also stressed that if the British government continues to block the possibility of another referendum, the Scottish National Party (SNP) will make independence the cornerstone of its manifesto at the next general election.

This is not the first time Sturgeon has brought up the subject of a second independence referendum in Scotland. She used to claim that the referendum would be held regardless of what the UK government in Westminster had to say about it. London, however, repeatedly said it would not grant formal consent.

Scotland held a referendum on independence from the UK on 18 September 2014. The question was "Should Scotland be an independent country?", to which voters could choose between 'Yes' or 'No'. The number of those who answered 'No' was more than 2 million (55.3 percent) and those who voted 'Yes' were estimated to be about 1.6 million (44.7 percent). The turnout was 84.6 percent, the highest percentage recorded for an election in the UK since 1910.