Nicola Sturgeon says Scottish independence referendum ‘must happen’ next year

Nicola Sturgeon is preparing to demand a second independence referendum for Scotland for 2020.

Speaking at the SNP’s annual conference in Aberdeen, the Scottish First Minister said there is a ‘cast iron mandate’ because of the impact of the UK leaving the European Union.

She took a swipe at Boris Johnson’s ‘disastrous’ Brexit strategy and said the prospect of a no-deal divorce was ‘unthinkable’.

Sturgeon told party activists ‘it is time to take charge of our own future’ and claimed Scotland is ‘winning the case’ to break away from the UK.

She added: ‘For Scotland, Brexit shows that the Westminster system is broken and it is broken utterly beyond repair.

‘Our job is not just to deliver a referendum. Our job is to deliver independence.

‘By the new year, we will have completed our legislative preparations.

‘We are already working to update the independence prospectus.

‘And I can confirm today that before the end of this year, I will demand the transfer of power that puts the legality of a referendum beyond any doubt.’

Sturgeon said she will soon ask Westminster to give formal consent for a vote by the end of this year and said they have ‘no right’ to block it.

To hold a referendum, the UK government would need to transfer powers to Scotland’s devolved parliament in Holyrood.

On September 18, 2014, voters rejected Scottish independence by 55 per cent to 45 per cent.

But the SNP leader says they should have their say again because Brexit will fundamentally change the country’s constitutional arrangements.

Opinion polls show Brexit has boosted the pro-independence vote to around 50 per cent.

Johnson has said it would be ‘totally wrong’ to hold another referendum.

Sturgeon accused the Prime Minister of ‘caring nothing for the human consequences of his disastrous divorce policy.’

She said the SNP would win independence by ‘inspiring and persuading’ people, rather than the ‘Brexit way’ of ‘undermining democracy’ and ‘demonising those who disagree’.

Criticising the Scottish Tories for backing the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, Sturgeon called their stance ‘unforgivable’.