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Sturgeon warns PM Cameron over Scotland future in UK
Scotland`s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Friday warned Prime Minister David Cameron that he`s on `borrowed time` over the future of a United Kingdom on the first anniversary of the landmark independence referendum.
London: Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Friday warned Prime Minister David Cameron that he's on "borrowed time" over the future of a United Kingdom on the first anniversary of the landmark independence referendum.
Sturgeon said so in a speech to mark a year since the referendum in Edinburgh on September 18, 2014 when Scotland had voted by 55 percent to 45 percent to remain a part of the UK.
She said "My message to David Cameron today is the same as it was when I met him just after the general election.
"What happens to support for independence in the months and years to come will depend as much on what you do as it will on what we do. And, right now, you are living on borrowed time.
"If you continue to ignore Scotland's voice, if you continue to disrespect the choice that people across this country made in May, more and more people will conclude that Westminster simply can't deliver for Scotland," she said.
Meanwhile, Cameron outlined plans to guarantee the permanence of the devolved Scottish Parliament.
"Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon and I signed the Edinburgh Agreement which pledged we would all respect the outcome of last year's momentous vote.
"We all agreed as do the Scottish public that the independence referendum should be a 'once-in-a-generation' or a 'once-in-a-lifetime' event. So, now it is time to move on," he said.
The UK government plans two amendments to the Scotland Bill on more devolved powers in order to guarantee the permanence of the Scottish Parliament.
The first will change the wording to put beyond doubt that the Scottish Parliament is a permanent part of the UK's political constitution.
The second amendment will state that the Scottish Parliament can only be abolished with the agreement of the Scottish people in a referendum.
Sturgeon's pro-independence SNP has been on a popularity surge, with her approval as party leader at an all-time high.
The party won an unprecedented 56 out of 59 Scottish seats in the UK general election, making it the second largest party in Westminster after the ruling Conservatives.