IndyRef2: Brexit boosts Scottish movement to end London’s rule
- Scotland’s nationalist First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants to hold another referendum but British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused permission
- New poll suggests slim majority of Scots now in favour of the country ending its three-centuries union with UK
Now that the UK has finally left the EU, one of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s next battles will be to resist moves from north of the border for a new independence referendum.
According to a poll by YouGov published on the eve of Brexit, 73 per cent of people in Scotland wanted to remain in the EU, up from 62 per cent in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
However, Scotland can’t just unilaterally break away. In order for a newly independent country to join the EU, it needs to have had the permission of the country from which it secedes.
Opposition to Brexit has boosted calls for a second Scottish independence referendum, known as IndyRef2, after 55.3 per cent said no to succession in a referendum nearly six years ago.
The margin is still tight, with a recent poll showing 51 per cent of the Scottish electorate now in favour of leaving the UK, but Scottish politicians are convinced the “leave” constituency could quickly grow because of Brexit. On Sunday Scotland’s main unions lent their support to IndyRef2.
It was the decision to leave the EU that has increased the power of Scottish nationalists, who have proved to have been some of the most articulate opponents to Brexit.