Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned that the United Kingdom may be heading towards a hard exit from the European Union and she sees that as a threat to Scotland. She expects that kind of an exit will add to the economic hardship by impacting jobs, living standards, and investments. However, she didn’t mention a second Scottish referendum over independence but said she will do everything she can to protect the interests of the Scotland.

A hard or disorderly exit from the Union, where no deal would be struck within the negotiating period of two years and EU fails to extend the deadline because of the lack of a unanimous support. This is the worst case scenario and it would heighten the risk of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar getting separated from the European Union.

Simple voting calculations suggest that this time around, Ms. Sturgeon may be able to secure the freedom she seeks for Scotland. 62 percent of the people in Scotland voted in favor of remaining in the European Union compared to 55 percent opting to stay in the United Kingdom in 2014 referendum. The threat that time was if Scotland moves out of the UK, it goes out of the EU and had to submit fresh entry application.