Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Nicola Sturgeon says a second independence referendum will be called between autumn 2018 and spring 2019

Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed she will ask for permission to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence. The option of ‘no change’ is no longer available.”

The First Minister suggested that a second vote on Scotland’s constitutional future ‘could happen between Autumn 2018 and Spring 2019’.”

Ms Sturgeon has previously hinted that autumn 2018 would be a suitable time to call a referendum. Patrick, who sits on Holyrood’s Finance & Constitution Committee, said:

“The Greens welcome the Scottish Parliament’s consent being sought for a Section 30 order on an independence referendum and we will support it. “That is therefore the earliest point at which a referendum would be appropriate.”

Ms Sturgeon had called for Scotland to be given a “differentiated deal” which would see the country remain part of the European single market through membership of the European Economic Area, but said the UK Government has refused to compromise. Speaking at Bute House in Edinburgh she said: "In my view it is important that Scotland is able to exercise the right to choose our own future at a time when the options are clearer than they are now, but before it is too late to decide our own path." “A choice of whether to follow the UK to a hard Brexit, or to become an independent country able to secure a real partnership of equals with the rest of the UK and our own relationship with Europe.”

Sturgeon adds: “The Scottish government’s mandate for offering this choice is beyond doubt. I can confirm today that next week I will seek the authority of the Scottish Parliament to agree with the UK government the details of a section 30 order — the procedure that will enable the Scottish Parliament to legislate for an independence referendum … These considerations lead me to the conclusion that if Scotland is to have a real choice — when the terms of Brexit are known, but before it is too late to choose our own course — then that choice should be offered between the autumn of next year, 2018, and the spring of 2019," she said, as quoted by the SNP website. The BBC reports Sturgeon says the timing of another vote will be the Scottish Parliament to decide, with Sturgeon’s preferred timing for the referendum to be between autumn in 2018 and spring 2019. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Theresa May says she has been "working closely" with the devolved administrations on Brexit

The first minister said the UK government had not "moved even an inch in pursuit of compromise and agreement" since the Brexit referendum, which saw Scotland vote by 62% to 38% in favour of Remain while the UK as a whole voted to leave by 52% to 48%. Responding to Ms Sturgeon's announcement, Mrs May said a second independence referendum would set Scotland on course for "uncertainty and division" and insisted that the majority of people in Scotland did not want another vote on the issue. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The SNP and Scottish Greens form a pro-independence majority in the Scottish Parliament

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said Scotland was "already divided enough" and "we do not want to be divided again, but that is exactly what another independence referendum would do."
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announces she will seek a second referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.