She is a Prime Minister more confident than ever, who did not even wait for the end of the endless tabulation of the Scottish legislative results to deliver her victory speech. Nicola Sturgeon, 50, thirty-five of whom are pro-independence activists, praised the results “Historical” and “Extraordinary” from the Scottish National Party (SNP) which, Saturday evening 8 May, ended up winning 64 seats out of a total of 129 in Holyrood, the Parliament of Edinburgh.
The SNP hoped to win an absolute majority of seats (65), which would have given it an almost irresistible mandate to demand a second referendum on Scottish independence, after the failed 2014 one (the Scots then voted for remain within the UK at 55%). However, his party having come very close to this “magic number”, Mr.me Sturgeon preferred to cut the grass as quickly as possible under the feet of the British Conservative government, which has a right to veto a possible referendum, while Boris Johnson, the day before, had declared “Irresponsible” a new Scottish popular consultation.
“There is no doubt that we are going to have a pro-independence majority and that it will be higher than in the previous term. [2016-2021] “said Mme Sturgeon, taking into account, like all the independence camp and most Scottish commentators, the progression of the Scottish Greens, also pro-independence, who made a historic breakthrough at Holyrood with a gain of eight seats. “Boris Johnson’s position is hilarious, of course we have [avec le SNP] a clear mandate to call a new referendum ”, said on Saturday morning Lorna Slater, the Scottish Greens co-leader.
“A question of democratic principle”
“I will return to work immediately, to devote myself to exiting the pandemic, then to economic and social recovery, but when the crisis is over, the Scots will have the right to speak out [sur leur avenir] “, insisted Nicola Sturgeon. “Boris Johnson has no argument to block the will of the Scots. The referendum is fundamentally a question of democratic principle ”, hammered the leader.
The war of words and arguments is therefore declared between Edinburgh and London, and it promises to be as harsh as it is prolonged. This showdown, crucial for the future of Scotland – and of the United Kingdom – actually started much earlier – with the Brexit referendum in June 2016. According to the SNP, these results have been completely hackneyed. the cards: in 2014, when the Scots were called upon to decide on their future, it was only a question of remaining in the Union of the United Kingdom, not of leaving the European Union. However, they rejected Brexit unequivocally (up to 62%), giving Mr.me Sturgeon, who became Scottish Prime Minister at the end of 2014.
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