Nicola Sturgeon has urged those who want a second referendum on Scottish independence to back the UK’s continued membership of the EU.
The First Minister said a Remain vote was the “only sensible and logical” course for those who want a re-run of the 2014 poll.
Ms Sturgeon has repeatedly said that if Scotland votes Remain on Thursday but the overall vote is for Leave it could trigger a second independence referendum.
Writing in the Sunday Herald, she said that option would not be on the table if Scotland also voted for Brexit, and repeated her warning that such a vote would result in a “seizing of power” at Westminster by a right-wing Tory “cabal”.
The SNP’s manifesto in the run up to the Holyrood election stated: “The Scottish Parliament should have the right to hold another referendum if there is a significant and material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the European Union against our will.”
Ms Sturgeon said: “I hope this scenario does not arise. I hope the whole UK votes overwhelmingly to stay in the EU and to reject the narrow-minded and inward pitch of the Leave campaign.
“But I am also clear that if Scotland does face being taken out of Europe against our will, then the option set out in our manifesto must be on the table for consideration. That option does not arise if Scotland votes to leave.
“I’ll be voting Remain for a variety of very good reasons, such as access to a single market of more than half a billion people, free travel across Europe, and for the hugely important workers’ rights and social protections being part of Europe guarantees.
“If you are basing your decision on what it means for independence, let me be very clear – the only sensible and logical vote is one for Scotland to remain in Europe.
“If Scotland votes to leave, our immediate future will be one inside the UK but outside the EU, at the mercy of a Tory Government led by the likes of Boris Johnson, which is even more right wing than that of David Cameron and George Osborne.
“So I ask you to vote Remain on Thursday because it is in Scotland’s best interests.”
