EDINBURGH—Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Monday demanded a new independence referendum to be held in late 2018 or early 2019, once the terms of Britain’s exit from the European Union have become clearer.
A vote that could rip apart the United Kingdom just months before Brexit adds a tumultuous twist and highly uncertain consequences to the two-year process of leaving the EU after more than four decades.
“If Scotland is to have a real choice—when the terms of Brexit are known but before it is too late to choose our own course—then that choice must be offered between the autumn of next year, 2018, and the spring of 2019,” Sturgeon told reporters.
Her demand comes just as British Prime Minister Theresa May is poised to launch the Brexit process, something opposed by most Scots in last June’s vote on leaving the bloc.
Ultimately it is the UK parliament in Westminster—where May commands a majority—which makes the call on whether Scotland can hold a second referendum. But if May refused to approve such a vote she could provoke a constitutional crisis.
