Scotland Referendum ‘Not Remotely on the Cards’

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday a second Scottish independence referendum was “not remotely on the cards”, but he would consider nationalist demands for greater powers to be devolved from London to Scotland.

Cameron was speaking after meeting Scotland’s secessionist leader Nicola Sturgeon in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, just over a week after her Scottish National Party (SNP) won almost every seat in Scotland in the general election, straining Britain’s unity nine months after a referendum saved it.

Scots rejected independence last year by 55-45 percent, and asked whether he would veto another such referendum, Cameron told the BBC: “I don’t think it’s remotely on the cards.”

“I’m very clear: we had a referendum, it had a decisive outcome. The choice now is what sort of future for Scotland in the United Kingdom.”

Basking in the afterglow of her party’s stunning victory last week when it won 56 of 59 Scottish seats in the United Kingdom’s parliament, Sturgeon used the meeting to tell Cameron she wanted him to go well beyond an existing deal to grant more powers to the devolved Scottish government.

Although Cameron’s Conservatives performed strongly in England and won an overall UK-wide majority, they won just one seat in Scotland.

Reuters

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