Nicola Sturgeon calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence by 2021 to give residents 'a choice between Brexit and a future for Scotland'

Scots should be given the opportunity to vote again on independence before the next Holyrood elections in 2021 - if Brexit goes ahead, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said today. The SNP leader said she would try to pass plans for a second referendum into law by the end of the year - and dared Theresa May to stop Scotland voting on it again. Speaking in Edinburgh today Mrs Sturgeon argued the current Brexit deadlock at Westminster makes indyref2 necessary, five years after she lost the last one. She said: 'A choice between Brexit and a future for Scotland as an independent European nation should be offered in the lifetime of this Parliament.