Scottish National Party Leader and Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon makes a statement at Bute House, in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Dec. 19, 2019.WPA Pool/Getty Images
Britain’s government rejected Scotland’s First Minister demands for a new independence referendum after Brexit, saying it would be “a damaging distraction” and would undermine the result of the last vote five years ago.
Nicola Sturgeon, who heads Edinburgh’s pro-independence devolved government, said she has a new mandate to call for a fresh independence vote after winning the most seats in Scotland in last week’s general election.
“A second independence referendum next year would be a damaging distraction,” the government said in a briefing note accompany its legislative agenda. “It would undermine the decisive result of the 2014 referendum and the promise made to the Scottish people that it was a once in a generation vote.”
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