Scotland’s Parliament would consider blocking legislation on Britain’s exit from the EU if that were necessary to protect Scottish interests, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Sunday.
Scotland, a nation of five million people, voted to stay in the EU by 62 to 38 per cent in a referendum on Thursday, putting it at odds with the United Kingdom as a whole, which voted 52 to 48 per cent in favour of an exit from the bloc, or Brexit. Under the UK’s complex arrangements to devolve some powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, legislation generated in London to give effect to the vote to leave the EU would have to gain consent from the three devolved Parliaments.
Asked on BBC TV whether she would consider asking the Scottish Parliament to block a motion of legislative consent, Ms Sturgeon said: “Of course.”
“If the Scottish Parliament was judging this on the basis of what’s right for Scotland then the option of saying that we’re not going to vote for something that is against Scotland’s interest, of course that’s going to be on the table.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I care about the rest of the UK, I care about England, that’s why I’m so upset at the UK-wide decision that’s been taken. But my job as First Minister, the Scottish Parliament’s job, is to judge these things on the basis of what’s in the interest of people in Scotland.”
Ms Sturgeon, leader of a party that wants Scotland to become independent of the UK while remaining in the EU, has repeatedly said since the referendum result was announced Friday she would take whatever steps were necessary to ensure that Scotland’s democratic will was respected. That means a new referendum on Scottish independence was now “highly likely”, she said, arguing that splitting away from the UK may be the only way for Scotland to remain in the EU while the rest of the UK exits.
