UK PM, Scotland leader take different stances on 2nd independence vote

PanARMENIAN.Net - Scotland must move on from its failed bid for independence, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday, September 18, using the first anniversary of a historic referendum to rule out holding another vote on the issue, Reuters reports.

"We all agreed, as do the Scottish public, that the independence referendum should be a 'once in a generation' or a 'once in a lifetime' event," Cameron said in remarks released by his office.

The government will amend planned legislation on extra powers for Scotland to ensure the permanence of Scotland's devolved parliament Holyrood, Cameron said.

"There is absolutely no doubt: Holyrood is here to stay," he said. "We are delivering a new, accountable and permanent Scottish Parliament. Holyrood will be one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world."

Scotland's leader, on the other hand, says it would be wrong to rule out another independence referendum, the Associated Press says.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the British government is "living on borrowed time" if it does not give Scotland more autonomy.

Sturgeon said Friday that her pro-independence Scottish Nationalist Party respected the result of the vote, which was 55 percent to 45 percent against separation. She said "it would be wrong to propose another referendum without a fundamental change of circumstances."

But she said that if Britain voted to leave the European Union in an upcoming referendum, "demand for a second independence referendum could well be unstoppable."

And she accused Prime Minister David Cameron of failing to deliver on promises to the Scottish people.