Ignoring call would shatter UK: Sturgeon

A continued refusal by Britain's prime minister to discuss an independence referendum authorised by the Scottish parliament would "shatter beyond repair" the United Kingdom's constitutional structure, Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish National Party yesterday.

Sturgeon pressed on with plans to hold a new Scottish independence referendum as announced earlier this week, and expected to get authorisation from the devolved parliament on Wednesday to seek a new vote once the terms for Brexit are clear but before Britain leaves the EU.

But Prime Minister Theresa May needs to sign off on any legally binding vote in Scotland under the UK's constitutional arrangements, and she told Sturgeon this week that "now is not the time" for a new choice on independence.

"To stand in defiance of (Scottish parliamentary authorisation) would be for the Prime Minister to shatter beyond repair any notion of the UK as a respectful partnership of equals," Sturgeon, who is also Scotland's First Minister, said.

The two sides are in a standoff just days before Britain is expected to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty and start the extremely complicated divorce procedure.

Scottish voters rejected independence in 2014 by a 10 percentage point margin.