Boris Johnson has refused to say if he would mount a legal challenge to a second independence referendum, if Nicola Sturgeon does press ahead with another ballot without the agreement of UK ministers. Instead, the Prime Minister highlighted the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine as being a prime example of the strengths and advantages of the United Kingdom. His comments came after the SNP on Saturday released an 11-point roadmap to an independence referendum - in which it made clear a ballot could take place if May s Holyrood elections result in a pro-independence majority, even if Westminster refuses to grant a Section 30 order.
In a warning shot to Boris Johnson, Sturgeon told the BBC’s
The Andrew Marr Show that the Scottish National Party (SNP) would immediately organise an advisory vote to “seek the authority of the Scottish people” to hold a “legal referendum”.
The vote plan was set out in an 11-point roadmap presented at an internal SNP online assembly yesterday - and will go ahead “regardless of whether Westminster consents to the move”, The Guardian reports.
The SNP will first request from the UK government a section 30 order, which under the Scotland Act 1998 allows Holyrood to pass laws normally reserved to Westminster.
SNP news: Tories issue boycott threat to Sturgeon s wildcat independence bid | UK | News express.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from express.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
| UPDATED: 13:09, Sun, Jan 24, 2021
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The Scottish Government has warned new changes to customs and exports following Brexit could cost the UK up to £7billion each year, while Scotland s Constitution Secretary Mike Russell has predicted the country s GDP could plummet by as much as six percent over the next decade. The SNP s Westminster leader Ian Blackford has said Boris Johnson s Conservative Party must apologise to Scottish businesses and pay compensation to Scotland for the long-term damage they are doing to our economy - costing us billions in lost trade and growth .