Scotland's Sturgeon to make statement on 'indyref2'
Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is to make a statement later on Tuesday on the country's future in the wake of the June General Election which left the UK with a hung parliament.
Sturgeon's Scottish National Party lost 21 seats in a major reverse of fortunes from the 2015 result when it almost swept the country with 56 seats. She said her call for a second referendum on independence had contributed to her loss of vote share.
While the SNP still hold 35 seats in Westminster, Sturgeon will be wary of alienating her electorate with another push to break away from the UK in what would be a sixth poll since 2014's independence vote followed by two general elections, a Scottish parliament election and the Brexit referendum.
Sturgeon in March set out out her plan for a a second independence referendum, which she said should take place at the same time as Britain's exit from the European Union – expected in 2019.
She said the Scottish people, having voted to remain in the EU, deserved another say on their future. However, this was rejected by Prime Minister Theresa May, who argued "now is not the time" for another referendum.
Sturgeon may well park plans for what has become known as "indyref2" given May's humiliating result in June's General Election where she managed to convert a 20 point opinion poll lead into a loss of parliamentary majority.
With May significantly weakened and forced into a deal with Northern Ireland's hard right Democratic Unionist party to cling on to power, Sturgeon can afford to bide her time as pro-European forces in Westminster combine to tone down the prime minister's initial intention of a “hard Brexit”.