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- Sep 20, 2016
Motion passed 69 votes to 59 and comes a day before the United Kingdom takes the formal step towards Brexit.
Scotland's parliament has voted in favour of a call by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for a second referendum on Scottish independence within two years, but the British government has refused to discuss it.
The motion passed 69 votes to 59 on Tuesday and paves the way for the opening of formal talks between Scotland and the British government on the new referendum, coming just three years after Scottish voters rejected independence....
For Brexit supporters it means a massive headache," he said.
On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to trigger Article 50 of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, the first formal step towards Brexit that Scotland opposes.
Sturgeon, who leads the Scottish National Party (SNP), has complained that her efforts to seek a compromise on Britain's exit from the EU were met with intransigence from May's Conservative government.
"Scotland's future should be in Scotland's hands," Sturgeon told lawmakers in the Edinburgh-based parliament.
She told Scottish legislators she would seek to negotiate with the British government "in good faith and with a willingness to compromise.
Shortly after the parliament's approval, the British government said on Tuesday it would not be entering into negotiations on the referendum.
"It would be unfair to the people of Scotland to ask them to make a crucial decision without the necessary information about our future relationship with Europe, or what an independent Scotland would look like," it said.
Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba, reporting from Edinburgh, said the current public opinion in Scotland on the issue was divided in the middle.
"What people in Scotland want to know is what exactly the relationship with the EU would be in future and whether its worth prioritising staying in the EU over the trade union with the rest of the UK," he said.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/scottish-parliament-backs-independence-referendum-170328161749063.html
Scotland's parliament has voted in favour of a call by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for a second referendum on Scottish independence within two years, but the British government has refused to discuss it.
The motion passed 69 votes to 59 on Tuesday and paves the way for the opening of formal talks between Scotland and the British government on the new referendum, coming just three years after Scottish voters rejected independence....
For Brexit supporters it means a massive headache," he said.
On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to trigger Article 50 of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, the first formal step towards Brexit that Scotland opposes.
Sturgeon, who leads the Scottish National Party (SNP), has complained that her efforts to seek a compromise on Britain's exit from the EU were met with intransigence from May's Conservative government.
"Scotland's future should be in Scotland's hands," Sturgeon told lawmakers in the Edinburgh-based parliament.
She told Scottish legislators she would seek to negotiate with the British government "in good faith and with a willingness to compromise.
Shortly after the parliament's approval, the British government said on Tuesday it would not be entering into negotiations on the referendum.
"It would be unfair to the people of Scotland to ask them to make a crucial decision without the necessary information about our future relationship with Europe, or what an independent Scotland would look like," it said.
Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba, reporting from Edinburgh, said the current public opinion in Scotland on the issue was divided in the middle.
"What people in Scotland want to know is what exactly the relationship with the EU would be in future and whether its worth prioritising staying in the EU over the trade union with the rest of the UK," he said.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/scottish-parliament-backs-independence-referendum-170328161749063.html
