Nicola Sturgeon has announced a plan to launch a second independence referendum after EU vote.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it is “democratically unacceptable“ that Scotland would be taken out of the EU “against its will” and says she will take “all possible steps and explore all options” to secure Scotland’s continuing place in the EU.
Addressing the country after Scotland voted to remain in the EU, she said there had been a material change in the circumstances under which Scotland chose to stay in the union.
Describing Scotland as a ‘modern, open and outward focused country’ she said they still had to assess their next steps – but called an independence referendum as ‘extremely likely’.
Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government will begin to prepare the legislation required to enable a second independence referendum to take place.
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The First Minister said it is now “highly likely” that there will another vote on Scotland’s place in the UK in the next two years.
Speaking at her official residence, Bute House in Edinburgh, she said: “I intend to take all possible steps and explore all possible options to give effect to how people in Scotland voted – in other words to secure our continuing place in the EU, and in the single market in particular.”
The SNP manifesto for May’s Holyrood elections said the Scottish Parliament “should have the right to hold another referendum if there is a significant and material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will”.
Ms Sturgeon said: “It is, therefore, a statement of the obvious that a second referendum must be on the table, and it is on the table.”
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All 32 local authority areas north of the border returned a majority for Remain in the EU referendum, with the country voting by 62% to 38% in favour of Remain.
Ms Sturgeon said: “Unfortunately, of course, yesterday’s result in Scotland was not echoed across the whole of the United Kingdom. The UK-wide vote to leave the EU is one that I deeply regret.
“The vote across England and Wales was a rejection of the EU and it was a sign of divergence between Scotland and large parts of the rest of the UK and how we see our place in the rest of the world.”
