Sturgeon trying to clinch independence vote

Edinburgh: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Monday set out her plans for a new referendum on Scottish independence, arguing Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic had put Scotland on a different course from the rest of the United Kingdom.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) leader blasted UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for imposing his "Brexit obsession" on the UK during the coronavirus pandemic, which is leading to food and labour shortages.

And she said the economic hit on individuals and businesses from the UK’s departure from the European Union, which most Scots opposed, had been made worse by hardline immigration policies hitting the workforce.

But she told the SNP’s annual conference that Johnson and his Conservative government in London would "use all that damage that they have inflicted to argue for yet more control", to argue against Scotland going its own way.