Labour and the Lib Dems must draw up a unionist pact to stop Sturgeon s referendum hopes
The SNP government has already tabled a bill to provide for a referendum. However, it can t reach the statute book without Westminster
8 May 2021 • 7:38pm
There isn’t going to be another referendum. That remained the firm view of Scottish Tories on Saturday night as Nicola Sturgeon failed by the narrowest of margins to win the 65 seats that would have given her the overall majority she desired in the Scottish Parliament.
By holding onto highly marginal seats at opposite ends of the country, and with the help of one staunch Union-backing Labour MSP, they left the otherwise victorious nationalists marooned and one seat short of what she regarded as the overwhelming mandate she says should force Boris Johnson to agree to another referendum on independence.
What Nicola Sturgeon said she would do in her first 100 days in office
The SNP leader said her priority following the election would be to focus on Scotland s recovery from the devastating coronavirus pandemic.
10:51, 9 MAY 2021
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The SNP is the only party to have secured a majority in the 22-year history of the Scottish Parliament and - given polling over the past year - is hoping to repeat the feat.
In doing so, it had hoped to reinvigorate the campaign for a second referendum on Scottish independence, having pledged to launch an 11-point roadmap if a majority was secured.
And despite Ms Sturgeon s failure to win an outright majority she immediately called for another referendum claiming it was the will of the country .
Last year polls began to detect a surge in the number of Scots backing independence, with many showing a majority in favour of leaving the UK for the first time in years, but more recent surveys have suggested support has declined.
Booming Scottish finance industry wrestles with rising prospect of ‘Scexit’
Citigroup is predicting a 35pc chance of Scottish independence in the next decade after SNP victory
9 May 2021 • 1:50pm
Still reeling from the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, bankers and investors in Scotland are now facing the prospect of ‘Scexit’ – a split from the UK – following the Scottish National Party’s fourth victory in the Holyrood elections.
In a dramatic weekend for UK politics, Nicola Sturgeon said there is “no democratic justification whatsoever for Boris Johnson or anyone else seeking to block the right of the people of Scotland to choose our future”, leaving financiers asking themselves if they are ready for a break-up that could make Brexit feel like an appetiser.