Autumn 2018 'common sense time' to hold indyref2, says Sturgeon

First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has refused to rule out a second independence referendum in the next 18 months and said that autumn 2018 would be the “common sense time” to hold it.

Sturgeon told the BBC that within the two-year window provided by Article 50 it would be the "common sense time for Scotland to have that choice, if that is the road we choose to go down".

She said that was "not ruling anything out" regarding autumn 2018 as a possible date.

"I'm going to continue to take things forward at the pace that I think is right for the country."

Sturgeon rejected calls that she was bluffing, telling the BBC in an interview to be aired on Thursday: "I’m not and I never have been and, you know, I always think that sometimes kind of says more about them than it says about me because it, it suggests that there are politicians in Westminster who think Brexit and all of this is some kind of game."

Last month, there were reports that the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) might call a another independence referendum after Prime Minister Theresa May triggers Article 50, the two year clock on formal exit negotiations with European, by the end of March.

Sturgeon has previously said that that a second referendum was "highly likely" as the government pursues a 'hard' Brexit from the EU by leaving the European single market and customs union.

She has said that a deal could be reached where Scotland remains a member of the single market while the rest of Britain leaves as membership is important to Scotland's interests.

In order for Scotland to hold a second referendum it would have be granted permission by Westminster and May is not inclined to do so until Britain has left the EU by 2019.

May told the Scottish Conservative Party that the SNP were "obsessed with its own priority of independence" over its responsibilities for public services.

Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, criticised the move for a second vote saying that SNP is "hell bent on taking Scotland back to another divisive independence referendum and will use any excuse to do so".

Davidson added that Sturgeon knows that "a referendum would inflict further damage on Scotland's economy. It is therefore deeply irresponsible for the First Minister of Scotland to cast this cloud of uncertainty over our future".

This was echoed by Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale who said that it was "another attempt by Nicola Sturgeon to sow division and uncertainty, at a time when the country needs to pull together more than ever".