Scotland needs choice on independence at end of Brexit: Sturgeon

LONDON, Reuters, 14 May 2017 – Scotland must have a choice on independence at the end of Britain’s divorce with the EU when the exit terms are clear, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Sunday.
In an interview with the BBC, Sturgeon called on voters to back her Scottish National Party (SNP) at an election on June 8 to strengthen her hand and make sure that Scotland’s voice is heard in the Brexit negotiations.
“For me, this is a question of, at the end of the Brexit process, does Scotland get a choice about our future,” Sturgeon said. “At the end of the Brexit process, I believe people in Scotland should have a choice over our future.”
On Thursday, Scottish Brexit minister Michael Russell said the UK’s exit from the EU will be so damaging that it will try to rejoin in 20 years.
Russell said there was a high chance that Brexit talks would fail soon and that the bill for Brexit was the biggest stumbling block.
Britain is about to enter negotiations with the EU over the terms of its exit, due in March 2019, though relations with Brussels have been overshadowed in recent weeks by a public display of brinkmanship.
“I actually think in 20 years time, if the UK does come out, in 20 years time, the UK will be in the process of trying to be back in and it will have lost 20 years of influence and progress,” Russell said. “It is that foolish.”
The June 23 Brexit referendum called the future of the UK into question because England and Wales voted to leave but Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay.
Since then, the pro-independence Scottish government’s proposals to keep Scotland in the single market after the UK leaves were rejected by London as unworkable, and relations have been strained.