(Bloomberg) -- Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote to U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May seeking the power to hold another independence referendum after the semi-autonomous parliament in Edinburgh approved the move this week.
The Scottish National Party leader wants to enter negotiations for a so-called Section 30 order to hold the vote by spring 2019 once the terms are known for Britain's departure from the European Union, something that Scots opposed.
Nicola Sturgeon
Sturgeon has used Brexit as a rationale for calling a new referendum in Scotland after voters there rejected independence from the U.K. by 55 percent to 45 percent in September 2014. She and May have clashed over the demand, with Sturgeon saying a vote must be held before Britain is due to leave the bloc, and May saying “now is not the time” for another referendum.
Sturgeon was pictured working on the letter at her official residence and the image, posted on Twitter on Thursday by the Scottish Government, contrasted with the formality of a similar picture released earlier in the week of May signing Britain's official notification to withdraw from the EU.
May signs Article 50 letter on March 28.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson, Rodney Jefferson
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