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Sturgeon warns May not to block second referendum plans ahead of Brexit

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with Lord Advocate James Wolffe, left, permanent secretary Leslie Evans and deputy first minister John Swinney, right, during a Scottish government cabinet meeting in Bute House, Edinburgh yesterday PICTURE: Jane Barlow/PA
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with Lord Advocate James Wolffe, left, permanent secretary Leslie Evans and deputy first minister John Swinney, right, during a Scottish government cabinet meeting in Bute House, Edinburgh yesterday PICTURE: Jane Barlow/PA First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with Lord Advocate James Wolffe, left, permanent secretary Leslie Evans and deputy first minister John Swinney, right, during a Scottish government cabinet meeting in Bute House, Edinburgh yesterday PICTURE: Jane Barlow/PA

NICOLA Sturgeon has warned the UK government there should be “no blocking mechanisms” applied to her plans for a second independence referendum for Scotland.


The first minister also insisted the referendum timing and question should be determined by Scotland and not by London and that the it needed to take place before or shortly after the UK leaves the European Union.


British prime minister Theresa May was barracked by MPs as she told the House of Commons she had been “working closely” with the Scottish government on preparations for Brexit.


Mrs May also turned her attention to Irish unity when she told the Commons yesterday that a border poll would not be appropriate at this stage.


“What we should all be focusing on is bringing the parties together to ensure that we can continue to see the devolved administration in Northern Ireland working in the interests of the people,” she said.


The prime minister also rounded on Scotland’s first minister and her calls for an independence referendum when she told the Commons: “This is not a moment to play politics or create uncertainty.


“It is a moment to bring our country together, to honour the will of the British people and to shape for them a better, brighter future and a better Britain.”


Mrs May’s comments were seen as an indication she could delay the referendum until after the expected completion of the Brexit process in spring 2019.


Reports have suggested permission could be conditional on the SNP gaining an absolute majority in the 2021 Scottish elections.


Speaking after a senior ministerial meeting, Ms Sturgeon said: “Cabinet today agreed that the referendum must be for Scotland’s national legislature to shape.


“It should be up to the Scottish parliament to determine the referendum’s timing, franchise and the question.”


She said they had “a cast-iron democratic mandate for an independence referendum”.


“The vote must take place within a timeframe to allow an informed choice to be made – when the terms of Brexit are clear but before the UK leaves the European Union or shortly afterwards,” she said.


“In that way, with the vote taking placed between the autumn of 2018 and the spring of 2019, the independence prospectus, which we will offer people can be contrasted directly with the Brexit deal which the UK government will have negotiated by the start of that period.”


After the Scottish cabinet met in her official residence, Bute House in Edinburgh, Ms Sturgeon said: “There should be no strings attached, no blocking mechanisms applied and no Downing Street diktat – Scotland’s referendum must be made in Scotland.”


“That was the exact description the UK government themselves used ahead of the 2014 referendum and the same principle should apply now,” Ms Sturgeon said.


Meanwhile, Madrid’s foreign minister Alfonso Dastis played down the chances of an independent Scotland remaining in the European Union (EU) after Brexit.


According to Europa Press, Mr Dastis told reporters in Peru an independent Scotland ‘’can’t just stay in the EU’’.


Any prospective application to the EU can be vetoed by any member and Spain is nervous about its own separatist movements.