Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 29 March 2017

Scottish lawmakers back independence referendum call

DAVID KEYTON Britain as a whole voted to
JILL LAWLESS leave the bloc in a refer-
Associated Press endum last year, but Scots
EDINBURGH, Scotland voted by a large margin to
(AP) — Scottish lawmakers stay.
voted Tuesday to seek a “Scotland’s future should
new referendum on inde- be in Scotland’s hands,”
pendence, presenting the Sturgeon told lawmakers
British government with an before the vote.
unwelcome distraction as Scottish voters rejected in-
it prepares to push the Eu- dependence in a 2014 ref-
ropean Union exit button. erendum that Sturgeon’s
The Edinburgh-based leg- Scottish National Party
islature voted 69-59 to called a once-in-a-gener-
ask the U.K. government ation vote. But Sturgeon
to sanction an indepen- says Brexit has altered con-
dence vote that would ditions dramatically.
be held within the next She says there should be
two years. Outside, sev- a new plebiscite on in-
eral dozen independence dependence between
supporters bearing Scot- fall 2018 and spring 2019,
tish and EU flags broke into when details of Britain’s di-
cheers and tears of joy as vorce terms with the bloc
they heard the news. are clear. Sturgeon said
Scottish First Minister Nicola Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks during a debate on a second referendum on in- that whatever the final
Sturgeon, who asked law- dependence at Scotland’s Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh, Tuesday March 28, 2017. On Mon- terms, Brexit would mean
makers to authorize her to day British Prime Minister Theresa May has met Scotland’s leader Nicola Sturgeon for the first time “significant and profound”
request the referendum, since they faced off in a struggle over a new push for Scottish independence as the U.K. leaves change for Scotland. “That
the European Union.
says Scots must be given (Russell Cheyne/PA via AP) change should not be im-
the chance to vote on their posed upon us,” she said.
future before Britain leaves British Prime Minister There- U.K’s two-year process of day by triggering Article 50 “We should have the right
the European Union. sa May plans to launch the exiting the EU on Wednes- of the bloc’s key treaty. to decide the nature of
that change.” May, whose
Biggest EU group warns Brexit time to talk too tight government must approve
the referendum for it to be
legally binding, says the
BRUSSELS (AP) — The Euro- ic EPP group, called it “a had hoped the two things would be months needed time is not right. She says
pean Parliament’s biggest kind of mission impossible” could be done simultane- to approve the texts within all parts of the U.K. — Eng-
group says it will not be exacerbated by the nine ously. the two-year span, it makes land, Scotland, Wales and
possible to negotiate Brit- months lost since the British “Otherwise we would mix for a short time to push Northern Ireland — must
ain’s divorce proceedings voted to leave on June 23 up everything, that would through such an unprec- pull together to get the
and a new relationship at last year. Britain is set to trig- even complicate all the edented process. best-possible deal with
the same time, and warns ger the start of negotiations procedures,” Weber said in Weber said that trade deals the EU. Scottish Conserva-
that the two-year negotia- on Wednesday. defense of the sequential with individual nations, like tive leader Ruth Davidson
tion timeframe will be too EU officials have insisted timeline. the one with Canada, take agreed, saying Tuesday
short to have a full Brexit the divorce terms must be Weber said any trade deal over half a decade to ne- that Scots do not want
resolution. settled before talks on a with third countries usually gotiate and even that one “the division and rancor of
Manfred Weber, the head new relationship with Britain takes years to complete. is still in the process of full another referendum cam-
of the Christian Democrat- can begin, while London And considering there approval.q paign.” q