Sturgeon Says Scotland Should Have Choice on Future After Brexit

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she continued to believe that the people of Scotland should have a choice on its future at the end of the Brexit process.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Scotland has been anxious to strengthen its ties with the European Union after it was outvoted by England and Wales in last June’s UK referendum on EU membership.

In the wake of the vote, Sturgeon pledged to secure the nation’s place within the bloc and has been seeking independence from London.

"It remains my view and indeed the position of this government that at the end of this Brexit process the people of Scotland should have a choice about our future direction as a country. Indeed, the implications of Brexit are so potentially far-reaching that as they become clearer, people will increasingly demand that choice," Sturgeon said speaking before the Scottish parliament.

The Scottish government will not seek to introduce the legislation on holding another independence referendum immediately but will instead redouble efforts to influence the Brexit talks to keep Scotland in the EU single market, she said.

"I am therefore confirming today that, having listened and reflected, the Scottish Government will reset the plan I set out on March 13th. We will not seek to introduce the legislation for an independence referendum immediately. Instead, we will — in good faith — redouble our efforts and put our shoulder to the wheel in seeking to influence the Brexit talks in a way that protects Scotland's interests. We will seek to build maximum support around the proposals set out in the paper that we published in December — Scotland's Place in Europe — to keep us in the single market, with substantial new powers for this parliament."

There is a real risk that the United Kingdom will “crash out” of the European Union with a very bad Brexit deal or no deal at all, she said.

Currently, the EU and Britain are negotiating the conditions of Brexit. The fate of both EU citizens living in the United Kingdom and UK nationals leaving in EU member states is one of the major talking points in the Brexit talks between London and Brussels, which started on June 19. The Brexit process, which was initiated on March 29, is to be completed within two years under Article 50 of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty.