Nicola Sturgeon calls for second Scottish independence vote next year

Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called Tuesday for a second vote on the country's independence from Britain to take place in 2020.

The first referendum vote five years ago failed to secure independence with 45 percent of Scottish voters favoring a split and 55 percent supporting unity.

Still, Sturgeon said that the U.K. government should allow them another vote next year because it would be "unsustainable" to refuse them the opportunity.

She made the remarks at the Scottish National Party's conference where critics expressed frustration that the independence movement hadn't made progress.

Meanwhile, Westminster has continued to refuse the vote, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson previously saying it would cause "total national discord."

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, an anti-independence campaign group, released a statement in reaction to Sturgeon's speech on the group's website.

"This was a speech full of nationalist rhetoric with no answers about the catastrophic impact of breaking up the U.K.," Nash said. "She provided no answers about the consequences of a hard border with England; no answers about how to cope with a cut in public spending of £2,000 per person; and no answers about the damage that scrapping the pound would inflict on our economy."