Scotland will hold independence vote

LONDON — The Scottish Parliament on Tuesday voted in favor of seeking another referendum on independence, setting the stage for a clash between the British prime minister and the first minister of Scotland.

The motion in the semiautonomous Scottish Parliament had been widely expected to pass, with the minority Scottish National Party government and the Scottish Greens supporting it.

Advocates for Scottish independence now have parliamentary authority for a referendum. But holding a binding referendum still requires approval from the British government.

Prime Minister Theresa May has not ruled out a second referendum, but she has rejected the proposed timetable. The Scottish motion calls for a vote by spring 2019.

Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party, wants the referendum held within two years. In such a scenario, Britain would be engaged in negotiations to leave the European Union — a process often referred to as Brexit — while, simultaneously, Scotland would vote in a referendum on independence from Britain.

“Scotland’s future should be in Scotland’s hands,” Sturgeon said before the parliamentary vote, which was originally slated for last Wednesday but was postponed after a deadly terrorist attack in London that day.

Sturgeon met with May in Scotland on Monday to discuss the upcoming Brexit negotiations and the possibility of a second referendum on Scottish independence.

During the talks in Glasgow, Sturgeon said, May made clear that the details of Britain’s divorce deal would be known within two years.

“When that deal emerges, I think people in Scotland should have an informed choice about whether that’s the path they want to take, or whether they want to take the path of becoming an independent country,” Sturgeon told the BBC.

May has repeatedly said that “now is not the time” for another independence ballot. “Now is the time when we should be pulling together, not hanging apart,” she told reporters after her meeting with Sturgeon.

RUSSELL CHEYNE/AGENCE FRANCEPRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Tuesday that “Scotland’s future should be in Scotland’s hands.”