Scotland (Washington Insider Magazine) -The United Kingdom could allow Scotland to hold a new independence referendum, if 60% of Scotland supports doing so over an extended period.
This announcement, which detailed for the first-time what U.K. support for a referendum would require, was made by U.K. Secretary for Scotland, Alister Jack, in an interview with Politico.
“If you consistently saw 60% of the population wanting a referendum – not wanting independence but wanting a referendum – and that was sustained over a reasonably long period, then I would acknowledge that there was a desire for a referendum,” Jack said in the interview.
The last Scottish independence referendum was held in 2014. Scotland rejected independence – 55.3% of citizens voted in favor of remaining a part of the U.K. and 44.7% voted against.
Calls for a fresh referendum have been made by the Scottish National Party (SNP) which won 64 of 129 seats in Scottish Parliament in elections in May. The SNP last week announced a historic cooperation agreement with the Greens, which won seven seats in parliament. Both parties favor Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.
First Minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP Nicola Sturgeon has stated her intentions to hold a referendum after the COVID-19 crisis is under control, calling any U.K. attempts to block a referendum “undemocratic.” The SNP has long pushed for Scottish independence, and Sturgeon pointed to the election in May as evidence that a second referendum should take place.
“Which path Scotland takes should not be the choice of any single politician or party. It must be a decision of the people. That is why – once the crisis is over – people in Scotland should have the right to make that choice,” she said in a statement on May 26.
“The election result delivered a substantial majority in this Parliament for an independence referendum within the current term. There is no justification for the U.K. Government seeking to block that mandate,” Sturgeon added.
Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Green party co-leader, welcomed the statement from Jack, but said that opinion polls don’t matter.
“We have a very clearly pro-independence parliament, and I would like to see that parliament debate a bill to set that referendum, and I would like to see the U.K. government respect that decision,” Harvie told the Guardian.
An Aug. 5 poll from Redfield and Wilton Strategies found that 47% of Scottish respondents said they would vote no in an independence referendum, and 44% said they would vote yes. The survey found a clear correlation between respondent’s age, and how they voted, with 62% of both 16-to-24-year-olds and 25-to-34-year-olds supporting independence, as compared to 29% of respondents aged 65 and above.
