Scotland will have new independence referendum

Aberdeen : First Minister Nicola Sturgeon insisted Saturday that Scotland will have another referendum on seceding from the UK, as she blasted British Prime Minister Theresa May.

At a raucous rally of her leftwing Scottish National Party (SNP), Sturgeon said May's centre-right Conservatives were "terrified" of how Scotland would vote in a second referendum on independence.

Sturgeon said the will of the semi-autonomous Scottish Parliament "must prevail" as she seeks a new referendum before Britain leaves the European Union.

"After the terms of Brexit are clear but while there is still an opportunity to change course, the people of Scotland will have a choice," she told the SNP conference in the oil city of Aberdeen on the northeast coast.

"There will be an independence referendum," she said to huge cheers.

"Scotland should not be dragged out of Europe by a Tory government intent on a disastrous hard Brexit.

"They are now terrified of the verdict of the Scottish people."

Sturgeon caught the British government off-guard on Monday when she demanded a newreferendum by early 2019 at the latest, just before the UK is expected to leave the EU.

But May hit back, saying "now is not the time" for another referendum, arguing all energies should be devoted to getting a good Brexit deal for the UK as a whole.