Lawmakers in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Tuesday, May 26th, backed a motion to ask the UK government in London to approve the organisation of a new referendum on independence.
Members of the devolved legislature, which has powers to set policy in areas such as health, education, the law, transport, and environment, voted 72 to 55 in favour.
The motion was introduced by Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney, who leads the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP).
“With the mandate of parliament, I will now take that forward to dialogue with the UK government to make sure that parliament’s wishes, which, of course, are the wishes of the people, are properly put into effect,” he said.
Swinney said he had talks scheduled with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the next few weeks.
The first minister has said that an independence vote could take place as soon as 2028, describing this possibility as “perfectly conceivable.”
Scotland first held a referendum in 2014 on whether to break away from the rest of the United Kingdom—England, Wales, and Northern Ireland—but 55 percent voted to keep the status quo.
The government in London, which retains countrywide powers over areas such as defence and foreign policy in all four nations of the UK, considered the matter closed for a generation.
After Tuesday’s vote, Labour leader Starmer’s Downing Street office said in a statement: “The UK Government does not support independence or another referendum.”
