Speaking at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Sturgeon said she would not be calling a second Independence Referendum without the go-ahead from Westminster. Asked by Sputnik whether she could be pushed to call a second Referendum without the due permissions from parliament, the First Minister shook her head and promised to stay within the law.
"We need to have a process that is legitimate and legal, and probably most importantly, that will be recognised."
In one empathetic sentence, Sturgeon put Scotland's current movement parallel to the region that tried, on October the 1st 2017, to break away from Spain - Catalonia. Before casting the ballots, Spain declared the vote illegal, and as a result, the outcome was not recognised by Spain, or by Europe. Learning from Catalonia's struggle, Sturgeon explained that rather than just 'going through the motions of a referendum'; her goal was to get independence for Scotland.
"I have a great deal of sympathy with independent supporters of Catalonia, but what Catalonia has been through hasn't yet ended with Catalonia becoming independent. So I don't want to have just the experience of an Independence Referendum, I want Scotland to become Independent in a recognised fashion."
To achieve this, Sturgeon hinted that she would not be opposed to helping Jeremy Corbyn to number 10 though she did add that she would 'struggle to trust' the labour leader in a prime minister role. Earlier this week, Corbyn said that 'it was not up to MP's to block another Scottish Independence Referendum.' The Labour leader stressed that he was not in favour of Scotland leaving the UK, but called Westminster's blocking of a second poll 'undemocratic'.
On the back of this, at an event in Edinburgh, Nicola Sturgeon told interviewer Graham Spiers that she 'has not struck a deal with Labour', to further her quest for Independence, but she agrees with Mr Corbyn's sentiment- that Westminster is in the wrong for their blocking of the vote.
"What on earth is democratic about any Westminster government saying that; 'even though there's a democratic mandate, even though the Scottish Parliament voted for this, we have the right to block it?"
To a raucously enthusiastic crowd, Sturgeon noted that the 'undemocratic and unsustainable position' of Westminster, had started to crumble. Just this month, Scotland's independence camp has seen support from Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and even certain Tory party parliamentary candidates- a development which Sturgeon sees as a glimmer of victory.
Not a full victory, but in keeping the 'pressure on'- the first minister believes that there will be a second referendum. Not illegally, but a vote carried out, in her words, in 'the gold standard way'.
