Nicola Sturgeon to make statement to Scottish Parliament on Brexit and indyref2

Nicola Sturgeon - Image credit: Scottish Government

The First Minister is to make a statement to the Scottish Parliament on Brexit and a second independence referendum this week.

Nicola Sturgeon has asked the Scottish Parliamentary Bureau for time to be made available on Wednesday for a statement and questions.

Sturgeon is expected to give a reaction to the current Brexit deadlock that has seen the date of the UK’s departure from the EU delayed until up to Halloween.

However, the First Minister has also repeatedly promised an update on plans for a second independence referendum “within weeks” once the outcome of the Brexit process was known.

Given the further delay to Brexit, she will be under pressure to name a date, either ahead of or at the SNP conference this weekend, with time running out if one is to be held in the current parliament.

A majority of MSPs voted in March 2017 for the power to hold a second independence referendum, but Westminster is not expected to grant the necessary Section 30 order to hold a referendum.

Theresa May has said “now is not the time” for a second vote on independence and foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt recently reiterated on a trip to Glasgow that the UK Government would not give permission to hold one.

Ahead of tomorrow’s statement, a Scottish government spokesman told the BBC: "The First Minister has made clear she will update the Scottish Parliament after the Easter recess."