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Scotland could become independent if the SNP won a majority of votes in a UK election, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The First Minister wants a referendum in 2023, and is pushing for the Supreme Court to rule on a bill to set this up.

If this does not happen, she has said the SNP would treat The Next general election as a " De Facto referendum".

The UK government has said it would look at the Scottish Government 's proposals, but stressed " now is not the time" for another referendum.

It has also said that it was " clear" The Union was a matter reserved to Westminster.

The First Minister that independence could only happen if " a majority of people vote for that proposition".

Ms Sturgeon said if the UK Supreme Court ruled that there was no lawful route for the Scottish Government to hold an independence referendum, and if the UK government continued to refuse to pass on The Power to hold a referendum, then " The General election becomes As Far as I'm concerned the De Facto referendum".

The First Minister added: " Of course as a matter of principle, Scotland will only become independent when a majority vote for it. "

She Said voters must not be " blocked from having their say on this key issue".

Ms Sturgeon added that it was not her choice for the question of independence to be put to voters in The General election.

She went on: " I want a lawful referendum but if that is blocked at every turn then the only option is for my party to say to people in the election 'use this as the De Facto referendum to express your views on independence', and I would be putting that very clearly to the Scottish People . "

Ms Sturgeon said if people were not given the opportunity to express their views on independence then it would prove that " the UK is not the democratic, voluntary union of nations we have always been told it is".

She Said : " Instead it becomes a construct in which Scottish democracy becomes a prisoner of the UK Prime Minister .

" Whatever we think on independence, that cannot be right. And what we're now seeing in Scotland is not just an Independence Movement , it is a democracy movement. "

The idea of a " De Facto referendum" is a radical one, given Nicola Sturgeon 's reputation for caution and the fact her team had previously dismissed it as a strategy.

It raises many questions about how such a scheme would work, which ministers now find themselves talking about rather than their main Plan - to hold an actual referendum.

After All , the First Minister 's hope is that the Last Resort will never be needed. Her wish is still to do a deal with the UK government which would see both sides sign up to an agreed process in the style of 2014.

Bold talk of using a general election instead is chiefly a tool to force the pro-UK side to take their fingers out of their ears and engage with the issue, rather than a finalised strategy to deliver independence.

Earlier on Wednesday, Ms Sturgeon's deputy John Swinney suggested that he considered a win to be the SNP winning the majority of seats contested in Scotland.

He was asked on: " If you have a majority of Scottish MPs at The Next UK general election, that would be a mandate to start negotiations for an independent Scotland? "

He replied: " That's correct, yes. "

But he went on to Tweet that he had " misheard" the question, and added that his view would be that the SNP would need to win a majority of votes in a general election, not a majority of seats.

He Said when he was asked about a " majority of seats" he had only picked up on " majority".

Mr Swinney added: " Referenda, including De Facto referenda at a UK general election, are won with a majority of votes. Nothing Else . "

Douglas Ross , the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said on Tuesday that another referendum was the " wrong priority for Scotland" and would hinder Scotland's recovery from the pandemic.

And Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said voters did not want another referendum. He added that the Scottish Government should instead Focus On Covid recovery.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, of the Scottish Liberal Democrats , said less than A Day after Ms Sturgeon's Plan was unveiled that " The Wheels are falling off The Clown car".

He went on: " They seem to have conceded that they are heading for a defeat In Court and so they are brainstorming barmy schemes for what comes next. "

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Source of news: bbc.com