Today the Scottish Parliament resumes debate and will then vote on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s motion to trigger a second independence referendum.
The vote is expected to happen at 12:30 ET.
Sturgeon said on Monday that she “continues to be frustrated” by the Brexit process after meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
Sturgeon said the meeting was businesslike and cordial but that there were no guarantees from May that any powers coming back to the U.K. from the EU would be shared with Scotland.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon leaves after meeting Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May at a hotel in Glasgow Monday. (Russell Cheyne/Reuters)
The pair met just a day before Scotland’s devolved assembly resumes a debate on independence that is expected to give Sturgeon authority to demand a second referendum.
Sturgeon is pressing for that plebiscite to be held in the latter half of 2018 or the first half of 2019, before Britain leaves the European Union, but May has told her “now is not the time.”
“I had been under the impression, based on weekend media reports, that she was coming to offer something in the way of more powers,” Sturgeon said. “It turned out that wasn’t the case.”
A good divorce
Earlier, May said unity was crucial to Britain winning a good divorce deal from the European Union in talks that she will formally begin on Wednesday.
May is battling to keep the United Kingdom together after Britain’s vote to leave the EU revealed deep divisions, with England and Wales voting for Brexit, while Scotland and Northern Ireland supported staying in the bloc.
A meeting between Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May, right, and Sturgeon reportedly ended in a stalemate Monday. (Russell Cheyne/Reuters)
She wants to try to stem demands in Scotland for a new independence referendum which could rip apart the world’s fifth largest economy and encourage nationalists in Northern Ireland to follow suit.
In an independence referendum in 2014, Scotland voted against breaking away by 55 to 45 per cent.
