UK Brexit Should Lead to Second Scottish Independence Referendum

Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), stated that the Scottish Parliament should have the right to hold another referendum if the United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Scotland should be able to hold a second referendum on independence if the United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union later this year, local media quoted Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), as saying on Sunday.

"We believe that the Scottish Parliament should have the right to hold another referendum… if there is a significant and material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will," Sturgeon said, as quoted by The Scotsman newspaper.

UK citizens are set to vote on June 23 in a referendum on the country's EU membership, after Prime Minister David Cameron and the leaders of the 27 European Union member states reached a deal in February to grant Great Britain a special status within the bloc. SNP, which has come to dominate Scottish politics since the country had been given a parliament in 1999, believes that Scotland benefits from EU membership.

Sturgeon added that independence should be pursued if it is clearly preferred by most Scottish people, stressing that no politician can obstruct Scotland from determining its future.

In September 2014, Scotland held a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom, in which over 55 percent of the electorate rejected secession. The issue however remains on the Scottish agenda.

In February, Angus Robertson, the leader of the SNP in Westminster, said that the Scots would initiate a new referendum on independence from the United Kingdom in case the latter decides to leave the European Union at the nationwide vote on June 23.