The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced on Tuesday plans to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence in October next year, pledging legal action to ensure a vote if the British government tries to block it.

Sturgeon spoke as the Scottish government, led by her pro-independence Scottish National Party, published a referendum bill outlining plans for a vote on separation on October 19, 2023.

She also said she would write to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson seeking permission to hold an advisory referendum, but has already begun plans to gain legal authority if he tries to prevent it.

Sturgeon told lawmakers in the dissolved Scottish Parliament, "The issue of independence cannot be suppressed.

It must be resolved democratically and it must be through a process beyond reproach and require trust." "What I am not prepared to do, and what I will never do, is allow Scottish democracy to be held hostage by Boris Johnson or any Prime Minister."

Voters in Scotland, which has a population of about 5.5 million, rejected independence in 2014.

But the semi-autonomous Scottish government says that Brexit, which was opposed by a majority of Scots, means the issue must be put to the test again.

Pro-independence parties won a majority in last year’s elections, and Sturgeon promised, under pressure from some in her party, to hold a vote by the end of 2023.

Polls indicate the vote will be very close. Johnson and his ruling Conservative party, which is in opposition in Scotland, strongly oppose the referendum, saying the matter was settled in 2014 when Scots voted against independence by 55% to 45%. Polls in 2022 vary, with some showing a similar split, and others showing a narrowing gap.

Johnson had previously refused to issue the “Section 30” order giving the Scottish Parliament the authority to hold a referendum, saying earlier on Tuesday that Britain’s main priority was the economic pressures facing the country.

His spokesman later confirmed the government believes the time is not right to discuss a new referendum.

Sturgeon said the legitimacy of the referendum without permission from the British government was in dispute, and so she had already asked the Lord Advocate, the senior Scottish legal officer, to refer the question to the UK Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court said that once the case is referred to its president, he will decide if there are any preliminary issues to be addressed and when the case will be heard.