Scotland must hold another independence referendum in 2020 and will soon request the powers needed to hold it legally, Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon said. Scots rejected independence in a referendum in 2014 but the SNP says that Britain's vote to leave the European Union fundamentally changes its constitutional arrangements and means that the independence question should be revisited.
Tens of thousands of Scottish independence supporters marched in Edinburgh on Saturday, as calls grow for a fresh vote on Scotland breaking away from the United Kingdom with Brexit scheduled for within weeks.
Prime Minister Theresa May will urge her successor on Thursday to strengthen the bonds between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in a veiled criticism of those in her party who are widely thought to prefer Brexit to the union.
Tens of thousands of people took part in a march through Glasgow in support of Scottish independence. The All Under One Banner march left Kelvingrove Park at 13:30 BST and made its way through the city centre before ending with a rally at Glasgow Green.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has declared a “climate emergency” in her speech to the SNP conference. The SNP leader told delegates in Edinburgh she was inspired after meeting young climate campaigners who had gone on strike from school.
Brexit has “materially strengthened” the case for Scottish independence, Nicola Sturgeon has said. The First Minister said Scotland’s interests are being “completely ignored and sidelined” and that what has happened in the last two years has reinforced the case for it to leave the UK.
The UK government is to reject calls for a Scottish independence referendum before Brexit after Theresa May said now is not the time. The prime minister said the focus should be on getting the best Brexit deal for the whole of the UK.
Support for Scottish independence is at its highest-ever level, according to an academic study, but the Scottish Social Attitudes survey also suggested the popularity of the European Union has fallen. The researchers said this suggested focusing on EU membership may not be the best way to swing more voters towards independence.
An international symposium looking at the historical backdrop underpinning the concepts of self-determination, devolution, and independence on self-determination will take place next Thursday and Friday in Gibraltar. The aim of this conference is to look at these concepts and to explore them across a number of different examples.
Lawmakers from the Spanish region of Catalonia voted to seek a referendum on breaking away from Spain on Thursday, setting themselves up for a battle with an implacably opposed central government in Madrid. The Catalan Parliament in Barcelona voted 87 to 43, with 3 abstentions, to send a petition to the national parliament seeking the power to call a popular vote on the region’s future.