Sturgeon told the BBC.
The prospect
of an independence vote in Scotland that could rip apart the United Kingdom
just months before an EU exit would add a tumultuous twist to Brexit with
uncertain consequences for the world's fifth largest economy.
Scotland's
threat of a second independence vote also ups the pressure on Prime Minister
Theresa May as she prepares to trigger formal exit negotiations with the other
27 members of the European Union over the United Kingdom's divorce terms.
Sturgeon said
autumn 2018 would be a "common sense time" for Scotland to hold
another independence referendum, once there is some outline of a deal to exit
the European Union.
"Within
that window, of when the outline of a UK deal becomes clear and the UK exiting
the EU, I think would be common sense time for Scotland to have that choice, if
that is the road we choose to go down," Sturgeon, who heads Edinburgh's
pro-independence devolved government, told the BBC.
No decision
has yet been taken on a date for a vote, she added. Under the United Kingdom's
current constitutional conventions, a second independence vote would have to be
approved by May's government which has repeatedly argued there is no need for a
second ballot.
The results of
the June 23 Brexit referendum called the future of the United Kingdom into
question because England and Wales voted to leave the EU but Scotland and
Northern Ireland voted to stay.
Sturgeon has
warned that the Brexit plans of the government in London -- in particular May's
decision prioritize immigration controls over continued preferential access to
the single market -- makes another vote on independence necessary on the
grounds that circumstances have changed since 2014, when Scots voted 55-45 to
stay in the United Kingdom.
The EU's chief
negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, has said that an exit agreement with the
United Kingdom should be reached by October 2018 though many diplomats and
trade negotiators have expressed concern that a comprehensive Brexit deal would
be difficult to strike in such a short time.
May is due to
trigger formal exit talks by the end of this month though legislation giving
her approval to do so is unlikely to clear parliament until mid-March.
Sources close
to Sturgeon say May's official notification of withdrawal from the EU is a key
milestone, and said no decision on a referendum would be made before she
triggered formal talks.
"Common
sense would tell you that ... if we are going to become independent, better to
do so before we are dragged out of the EU," Stewart Hosie, an SNP lawmaker
said.
Scotland has a
population of around 5.3 million, according to the last census, slightly more
than 8 percent of the United Kingdom's population as a whole. It was an
independent kingdom until joining England in the Act of Union in 1707.
Most polls
show support for independence in Scotland has barely shifted from around 45
percent since 2014, and that most Scots do not want another vote on secession.
*REUTERS*
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