Scottish First Minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Hamza Yousaf used his first meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday to demand authority from him to hold a referendum on regional independence. This was reported by The Daily Telegraph.
Yousaf expressed hope in his conversation with the prime minister that he would “respect the democratic aspirations” of the Scottish parliament and empower it to hold a plebiscite, the newspaper reported. Independence from Britain is the main goal of the SNP, which has controlled the region’s parliament since 2007.
London has consistently denied Edinburgh such a right. According to The Daily Telegraph, Sunak responded to Yousaf’s demand by suggesting that instead of a referendum, he work together to lower the cost of living in Britain. The meeting itself, according to the article, took place in the British prime minister’s office in Parliament and lasted about 20 minutes.
The referendum on Scottish independence took place in 2014. Fifty-five percent of its participants were in favor of a union between Edinburgh and London. However, the Scottish National Party has insisted in recent years that the vote must be repeated due to the fact that Britain has left the European Union (Brexit). In a 2016 national referendum, the Scottish population opposed Brexit, although the UK generally supported leaving the EU.
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