Nicola Sturgeon plans for independence referendum in October 2023

Nicola Sturgeon has further laid out plans to hold a consultative referendum on Scottish independence in October next year.

The First Minister has written to Boris Johnson to express her willingness to negotiate a Section 30 order - a clause in the Scotland Act - which would allow Holyrood to legally hold an IndyRef2.

She said that if the referendum does not go ahead, the general election will be a 'de facto referendum'.

Speaking at the Scottish Parliament, Ms Sturgeon said she would not "allow Scottish democracy to be a prisoner of Boris Johnson or any Prime Minister."

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She said there is 'no reason' why an independent Scotland would not succeed.

When will the referendum take place?

The referendum will be held on October 19, 2023 and will contain the same question as 2014 - "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

Can the UK Government stop it going ahead?

Boris Johnson has previously refused calls for another referendum. Nicola Sturgeon is now looking to negotiate the terms of a Section 30 order with him.

The First Minister said she would be writing to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to inform him of her plans.

She added she would make clear she is "ready and willing" to negotiate the terms of a Section 30 order with him, which would give Holyrood the power to hold a referendum.

But with the Prime Minister having repeatedly refused her calls for another referendum to be held, Ms Sturgeon added "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."

She added: "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."

Will it be a legal ballot?

Nicola Sturgeon said it was a "matter of principle" that any referendum would be a legal ballot.

Outlining her bid to have an "indisputably legal referendum", Ms Sturgeon said the vote would be held "to ascertain the views of the people of Scotland as to whether or not Scotland should be an independent country."

She said this would be a consultative referendum as the vote on Brexit was in 2016 and that it would have the same status as the referendums of 1997, 2014 and 2016.

A majority vote would not by itself make Scotland independent, adding: "For Scotland to become independent following a yes vote, legislation would have to be passed by the UK and Scottish Parliaments."

She added: "This parliament has a clear, democratic mandate to offer Scotland that choice.

"The UK Government, however, is refusing to respect Scottish democracy. That is why today’s statement is necessary.

"The UK and Scottish governments should be sitting down together, responsibly agreeing a process, including a section 30 order, that allows the Scottish people to decide.

"That would be the democratic way to proceed. It would be based on precedent. And it would put the legal basis of a referendum beyond any doubt. That’s why I am writing to the Prime Minister today to inform him of the content of this statement.

"In that letter I will also make clear that I am ready and willing to negotiate the terms of a section 30 order with him."

The SNP leader said that she is instructing the Lord Advocate, Scotland’s chief legal officer, to go to the UK Supreme Court for clarification that Holyrood has powers under the Scotland Act for a consultative referendum should be held on 19th October 2023.

Sturgeon said it was better to have clarity “sooner rather than later” and if the law court goes against her it would prove that “Westminster has the final say” but that would not be the end of the matter

What if it is found to be unlawful?

The First Minister has said she will turn the next general election into a de factor Scottish referendum if she is denied legal powers to hold a second independence vote.

She said: "If it does transpire that there is no lawful way to give the people of Scotland a choice of independence in a referendum, and if the UK Government continues to deny a section 30 order, the SNP party will fight the UK General Election on this single question - should Scotland be an independent country?"

What happens if it goes to a de facto referendum?

The First Minister has said that, either way, the people of Scotland will have their say.

She concluded: "Either way, the people of Scotland will have their say.”

“To believe in Scottish independence is to believe in a better future. It involves an unashamedly optimistic view of the world. The belief that things can be better than they are now.

"It is not a claim to be better than anybody else, it's looking around at all the independent countries and asking 'why not us?'

"There is no reason that an independent Scotland would not succeed.

“The people of Scotland have told us that they want the right to decide.

“Today we have set out the path to deliver it.”

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