Scotland starts drive to stay in EU after Brexit
Scotland's devolved government will start a drive to protect its European Union membership and will prepare for a possible fresh independence vote after Britain voted to exit the bloc, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday.
"We are determined to act decisively in a way that builds unity across Scotland," Sturgeon told reporters, adding that might include a vote on Scottish secession from the United Kingdom.
Scots rejected independence in a 2014 referendum by 55-45 percent and at the time the vote was considered a decisive verdict for a generation. Since then support for independence has not shifted significantly, according to polls.
On Thursday Britain as a whole voted to leave the EU, but Scotland voted by 62 to 38 percent to remain. The SNP argues that many Scots opted to remain part of the United Kingdom in 2014 because they believed that was the only way to guarantee EU membership.
She reiterated that an independence vote could be offered. "A second (Scottish) independence referendum is clearly an option that requires to be on the table, and it is very much on the table," she said.
She would also establish a panel of experts to advise the Scottish government on legal, financial and diplomatic matters concerning EU membership.
Meanwhile, the future unification of Ireland would be in the best interests of its citizens, but holding a referendum while the British government is negotiating its exit from the EU would only cause division, Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said on Saturday.
Northern Ireland's deputy leader Martin McGuinness called on Friday for a vote to unite Ireland with the British-run province to the north. But his demands were rebuffed by pro-British First Minister Arlene Foster as well as by Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny.
Under a 1998 peace deal that ended 30 years of sectarian violence, Britain's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland can call a referendum if it appears likely a majority of those voting would seek to form part of a united Ireland.
"I share the view that at some stage in the future that the unification would be in the best interests of the people but only when there is a majority consent of the people in Northern Ireland," Charlie Flanagan told national broadcaster RTE.
"We now have a situation following the referendum, where the UK is leaving the European Union. Any further referendums in Northern Ireland would cause a greater level of division than we have now and is therefore in my view particularly unhelpful."
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