LONDON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Scotland will be leaving the European Union even if it wins a new referendum to break away from Britain, British Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday.
Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced she is to start the process of a new referendum for Scottish independence.
Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), wants an independent country outside Britain, saying people in Scotland overwhelmingly voted in last June's referendum to remain within the EU.
The issue was raised in the House when Angus Robertson, one of the SNP's members of parliament at Westminster, fired questions at May during Prime Minister's Questions.
Robertson said: "Last July, she promised to secure a UK-wide approach -- an agreement between the devolved Administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the UK Government -- before triggering article 50, so when will the Prime Minister announce the details of the agreement?"
"Does she not understand that if she does not secure an agreement before triggering article 50 -- if she is not prepared to negotiate on behalf of the Scottish Government and secure membership of the single European market -- people in Scotland will have a referendum, and we will have our say," added Robertson.
May told Robertson: "We have been one country for over 300 years; we have fought together; we have worked together; we have achieved together; and constitutional game-playing must not be allowed to break the deep bonds of our shared history and our future together."
She said a deal with the EU will be a good deal for not just England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but for the people of Scotland as well.
As the angry exchanges continued, May told the SNP politician: "Scotland will be leaving the EU, either as a member of the United Kingdom or if it were independent, as it is very clear that it would not be a member of the European Union. What we need now is to unite, come together as a country, and ensure that we can get the best deal for the whole of the United Kingdom."
May cited a doctrine laid down in Brussels which would require an independent Scotland to apply to become a member of the EU in its own right.
Political commentators are predicting that May will not rule on a Scottish independence referendum until after Brexit negotiations are completed with Brussels.
Sturgeon has indicated she wants a referendum on Scottish independence before a final deal is agreed. In 2014 the people of Scotland voted to remain as part of Britain.
Meanwhile it seems likely MPs in the House of Commons will debate Sturgeon's demands for an independence referendum after tens of thousands of people signed a government petition.
Westminster has to consider a full debate if a petition attracts at least 100,000 names. The new petition, saying there should not be a new referendum in Scotland, had attracted almost 125,000 signatures by Wednesday afternoon.
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