Nicola Sturgeon has set the date for a proposed Scottish independence referendum.
The first minister said she wanted the process to be “legal” and “constitutional” as she laid out steps the Scottish government would take to bypass Boris Johnson’s discretion if he chooses to block a vote as he has done before.
She told MSPs a bill would be brought before Holyrood setting out plans for a referendum to be held on 19 October 2023, with the question to be asked the same as in the 2014 vote: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
Mr Johnson’s spokesman said the prime minister continued to think it was not time for a referendum. The prime minister and his Conservative party strongly oppose a referendum, saying the issue was settled in 2014 when Scots voted against independence by 55 per cent to 45 per cent.
He previously refused to issue a Section 30 order, which would give authority to the Scottish parliament to hold a referendum.
Ms Sturgeon said the legality of a referendum without such an order from the UK government was contested, and so she had already asked the Lord Advocate, the senior Scottish Law Officer, to refer the question to the UK’s Supreme Court.
A general election is expected in the months after the chosen date. Ms Sturgeon said if it there is no legal way for a referendum to be held, her Scottish National Party will fight the next election on the single issue of whether Scotland should be independent.
She said she would be writing to Mr Johnson to inform him of her plans, adding she would make clear she was “ready and willing” to negotiate the terms of a Section 30 order with him.
In light of the prime minister’s previous refusal to grant Scotland the power to hold a vote, she said: “What I am not willing to do, what I will never do is allow Scottish democracy to be a prisoner of Boris Johnson or any prime minister.
“My determination is to secure a process that allows the people of Scotland, whether yes, no or yet to be decided, to express their views in a legal, constitutional referendum so the majority view can be established fairly and democratically.
“The steps I am setting out today seek to achieve that.”
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