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UK’s Top Judges Set October Date to Consider Scottish Referendum

  • Supreme Court to decide whether Sturgeon can pursue new vote
  • Polls show Scots roughly split down the middle on independence
Nicola Sturgeon during a press conference to launch a second independence paper in Edinburgh, UK, on July 14.

Nicola Sturgeon during a press conference to launch a second independence paper in Edinburgh, UK, on July 14.

Photographer: Andrew Milligan/Getty Images

The UK Supreme Court set an October date to consider if Scotland’s leader can pursue a referendum on independence without approval from the government in London.

The move marks a significant gamble in the protracted quarrel between the pro-independence administration and Westminster over whether Scotland has the right to hold another vote on a breakaway after more than three centuries of union. The country’s top judges plan to hear the case on Oct. 11 and 12, the court said in a statement Thursday.