Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says a victory for her Scottish National Party in a snap election on June 8 would make it impossible for British Prime Minister Theresa May to stop a new referendum on Scottish independence.
Scotland voted against independence in 2014, but voted to remain in the European Union in 2016 while the United Kingdom as a whole voted to quit the bloc. Sturgeon says this means Scotland should have another chance to vote on secession.
"If the SNP wins this election in Scotland and the Tories (Conservatives) don't, then Theresa May's attempt to block our mandate to give the people of Scotland a choice over their own future when the time is right will crumble to dust," Sturgeon, who heads Scotland's devolved government, told reporters in London.
The SNP currently has 54 of Scotland's 59 seats in the British parliament in Westminster. May's Conservatives have one.
