Eight years after Scotland said no to independence in its 2014 referendum, Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon now wants to put the issue back at the top of the agenda. In a speech to the Scottish parliament last week, the first minister set out the route map for holding a vote on the issue on October 19 next year. The question put to Scots would be the same as in the 2014 referendum – Should Scotland be an independent country? But holding a second referendum is shrouded in legal problems and there’s no certainty it will even happen, as London Editor Denis Staunton explains.
","author_name":"The Irish Times"}