The Scottish government wants to hold an independence referendum, whether London allows it or not. Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday he wanted to force a vote if necessary, “but in a lawful way”. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has indicated on several occasions that he does not like it.

Sturgeon won a major election last year with his National Party. He saw the result as a clear mandate from voters for a new referendum, which was also supported by many other parties. The aim is for Scotland to vote for independence as early as next year.

Since Scotland belongs to England, the government in London had to give permission for the referendum. That doesn’t seem to be the case for now. A spokesman for Johnson believes this is not the right time to focus on the referendum, as there are “significant challenges” at stake. Sturgeon said the government was already working on the next steps if approval did not come. He will soon inform parliament about the measures.

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The prime minister launched a new campaign for independence on Tuesday. His government published the first in a series of documents on what the future of an independent Scotland would look like.

The last time Scots voted for independence from Britain was in 2014. Then 55 per cent of the population voted to live in the UK, but that was before Brexit. The majority of Scots want to remain within the European Union.