The Scottish Parliament will today vote on whether to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called her cabinet to a meeting at Bute House this morning before travelling to meet with MSPs at Holyrood for a debate on the motion.
Members are expected to vote at around 5.30pm and all indications suggest the motion will pass, with Scottish Green MSPs expected to push through the minority SNP government’s plans.
“The future of Scotland [should be] in the hands of people who live here,” Green party co-convener Patrick Harvie told the Today programme last week.
Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are all opposed to a new poll and are expected to vote against the motion.
Read the full motion on a second referendum:
“That the parliament acknowledges the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs and therefore mandates the Scottish government to take forward discussions with the UK government on the details of an order under section 30 of the Scotland Act 1998 to ensure that the Scottish parliament can legislate for a referendum to be held that will give the people of Scotland a choice over the future direction and governance of their country at a time, and with a question and franchise, determined by the Scottish parliament, which would most appropriately be between the autumn of 2018, when there is clarity over the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, and around the point at which the UK leaves the EU in spring 2019.”
If the Scottish Parliament does back Ms Sturgeon’s plans, she will write to the Prime Minister and formally request a Section 30 order to begin proceedings for a new referendum.
However, it is unclear how quickly Theresa May would be prepared to issue a formal response, with the UK Government set to trigger Article 50 – the legal mechanism notifying the EU of the UK’s intention to withdraw from the union – some time tomorrow.
The Scottish Parliament vote was originally scheduled to take place last week however the Parliament’s presiding officer Ken Macintosh suspended proceedings following the terror attack in Westminster, narrowing Mrs May’s opportunity to respond before Brexit negotiations begin.
Ms Sturgeon has insisted that any failure to respect the wishes of the Scottish Parliament would “shatter” trust between the two nations.
“If a majority in the Scottish Parliament endorses [a new referendum], the Prime Minister should be clear about this,” Sturgeon said at her party’s spring conference in Aberdeen earlier this month.
“At that point a fair, legal and agreed referendum — on a timescale that will allow Scotland an informed choice — ceases to be just my proposal, or that of the SNP. It becomes the will of the democratically elected Parliament of Scotland.
“To stand in defiance of that would be for the Prime Minister to shatter beyond repair any notion of the UK as a respectful partnership of equals.”
However, during a visit to Scotland yesterday, Mrs May was keen to reinforce her “now is not the time” mantra.
She said: “My position is very simple and it hasn’t changed. It is that now is not the time to be talking about a second independence referendum and that’s for a couple of reasons.
“First of all, now is the point when we are triggering Article 50, we’re starting negotiations for leaving the European Union. Now is the time when we should be pulling together, not hanging apart. Pulling together to make sure we get the best possible deal for the whole of the UK.
“It would be unfair on the people of Scotland to ask them to make a significant decision until all the facts were known, at a point where nobody knows what the situation is going to be.”