Scotland will vote in an independence referendum on October 19, 2023 announces First Minister

The First Minister of Scotland has announced that Scotland will vote in an independence referendum on October 19, 2023. Nicola Sturgeon has unveiled preparations for a legal battle with Westminster (Parliament of the United Kingdom), over indyref2. A referendum bill (proposal for a new law) has now been published

The Lord Advocate (Scottish Gaelic: Morair Tagraidh), Dorothy Bain, is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament. She has referred the bill to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, thus gearing up the Scottish Government for a legal challenge to Westminster. Nicola Sturgeon said she would write to the British Prime Minister and was still open to negotiating a Section 30 order. Section 30 refers to the section of the Scotland Act 1988 which bestows powers on Holyrood (Scottish Parliament), allowing them to pass laws which would otherwise only be reserved to Westminster.

Scotland's First Minister has said that if the bill was rejected at that level, it would prove the Union between England and Scotland was not a “voluntary partnership”. Should the Supreme Court reject the bill and the British Prime Minister again block a Section 30 order, Nicola Sturgeon pledged to fight the next general election on the single issue of independence, saying this would make the vote “a de facto referendum”. 

The Conservative Party have not won an election in Scotland since 1955 and therefore already viewed as having no legitimacy in Scotland. So the likely rejection of the proposed referendum by the Conservative UK government would place them in clear opposition to the will of the Scottish people. A position that would show they regard Scotland as a colony rather an equal within the United Kingdom. However, this will not stop the British establishment and media from using every dirty trick in the book to derail independence from happening. 

Already the battle lines are being drawn with the English dominated media mounting increasing attacks on the Scottish government and Scotland's First Minister. This will require mobilisation at all levels within Scotland and beyond to counter this UK led propaganda and support Scotland's right to take its place as a soveriegn independent nation.  

Image: Nicola Sturgeon First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party