On Monday British Prime Minister Theresa May has met Scotland's leader Nicola Sturgeon for the first time since they faced off in a struggle over a new push for Scottish independence as the U.K. leaves the European Union. Scotland's parliament has voted in favour of a call by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for a second referendum on Scottish independence within two years, but the British government has refused to discuss it. In such a scenario, Britain would be engaged in negotiations to leave the European Union - a process often referred to as Brexit - while, simultaneously, Scotland would vote in a referendum on independence from Britain. On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to trigger Article 50 of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, the first formal step towards Brexit that Scotland opposes. "Scotland's future should be in Scotland's hands," Sturgeon said before the parliamentary vote, which was originally slated for last Wednesday but was postponed after a deadly terrorist attack in London that day. The motion passed 69 votes to 59 on Tuesday and paves the way for the opening of formal talks between Scotland and the British government on the new referendum, coming just three years after Scottish voters rejected independence. Scott Murray, a 71-year-old music tutor, said the vote for Brexit had changed everything. Scottish parliament votes in support of holding second independence referendum

The Scottish parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of a bid to hold the second independence referendum in light of Brexit between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, Sputnik reported. But Sturgeon has said there is an “unquestionable democratic mandate” for a referendum. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson agreed, saying Tuesday that Scots do not want “the division and rancor of another referendum campaign.”

The Scottish parliament had been due to vote on Sturgeon's referendum demand last week, but the session was adjourned after Wednesday's extremist attack in London. David Mundell, the British government’s Scotland minister, said the U.K. government would not be “entering into negotiations on whether there should be another independence referendum during the Brexit process.”

“It’s not appropriate to have a referendum whilst people do now know what the future relationship between the U.K. and the EU will be,” he said. Sturgeon told Scottish lawmakers she would seek to negotiate with the British government, “in good faith and with a willingness to compromise.”

Should that fail, she promised to inform Parliament of next steps after its Easter break next month.
Lawmakers in the Scottish Parliament vote in favor of holding a second independence referendum for the country within two years.