The Scottish Parliament asked the Government of the UK on Tuesday for permission to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence, but Downing Street promptly rejected the proposal.
The vote at Holyrood saw 72 members of parliament supporting the motion, while 55 opposed it.
The motion was put forward by Scotland’s First Minister, John Swinney, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), which has been the country’s largest party for five consecutive parliamentary elections.
Swinney emphasised that the Scottish Parliament had "clearly expressed its view that Scotland should have the powers to arrange an orderly referendum on independence."
"With the mandate of Parliament, I will now take that forward to dialogue with the UK Government to make sure that Parliament's wishes, which, of course, are the wishes of the people, are properly put into effect," he stated, adding that he hoped to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer within the next two weeks.
The British Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that such a referendum could only be held with the consent of the UK Government. So far, no consent has been given.
A Downing Street spokesperson said the British Government neither supported independence nor a new referendum.
At the first Scottish independence referendum, held in 2014, 55% of voters opposed independence.
