Friday, 29 Mar 2024

Boris Johnson refuses demands for Scottish Referendum despite SNP gains

Boris Johnson is refusing to cave into demands to allow another Scottish Referendum despite huge gains made by the SNP in the general election.

A Downing Street spokesperson said the PM has called Nicola Sturgeon and has made clear that he remains opposed to a second vote on breaking away from the UK.

Nicola Sturgeon has insisted her party’s ‘watershed’ success in the general election shows that Scotland wants a different future to the rest of the UK.

Speaking on Friday morning at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, Scotland’s First Minister vowed she would push once again for an independence referendum saying it’s now a ‘democratic right’.

Ms Sturgeon’s party won huge gains in the polls by winning 47 of Scotland’s 59 seats.

The party leader was elated when her MP Amy Calaghan unseated Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson.

The Conservatives lost more than half the seats they had held north of the border and Ms Sturgeon said their ‘stunning’ result ‘renews, reinforces and strengthens’ the mandate for a fresh vote on independence.

Ms Sturgeon confirmed she will formally request the powers for Holyrood to hold a ballot, adding that the Scottish Government would ‘publish the detailed democratic case for a transfer of power to enable a referendum to be put beyond legal challenge’.

During the general election campaign Boris Johnson made clear he is not prepared to grant a section 30 order – which would transfer the power to Holyrood to hold a referendum


A statement from No 10 released tonight said: ‘The Prime Minister made clear how he remained opposed to a second independence referendum, standing with the majority of people in Scotland who do not want to return to division and uncertainty’.

In response to the statement Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: ‘And I made clear that @theSNP mandate to give people a choice must be respected – just as he expects his mandate to be respected.’

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