The Cabinet of Ministers said that such a vote would undermine the convincing results of the referendum in 2014.
The British government rejected the demand of Scottish First Minister Nicholas Sturgeon for the right to hold a referendum on regional independence. This was stated in the explanations of Queen Elizabeth II’s speech to the throne on Thursday.
“Next year’s second [Scotland’s] referendum on independence would be a mess”, – the agency cites a government statement. The message of the Cabinet noted that such a vote “would undermine the convincing results of the referendum in 2014.
The British authorities also emphasize that 60% of goods produced in Scotland, are sold in the United Kingdom, and additional investment in the northern region is several billion pounds sterling. In addition, the British government intends to revise the alcohol excise tax to support Scottish gin and whisky producers.
On Thursday Sturgeon officially asked London to give Edinburgh the legal right to hold a referendum on the independence of the region, based on the results of the last parliamentary elections, in which the Scottish National Party (SNP) won 48 of their 59 possible for the region parliamentary seats, which is 13 more than in the 2017 elections.