Sturgeon tells Johnson not to block Indyref2 after ’emphatic’ SNP election win

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon insisted her party had won the Scottish election ’emphatically’ (Jane Barlow/PA)

Nicola Sturgeon has insisted that Westminster has no right to block a second vote on Scottish independence as she claimed an “emphatic victory” in the Holyrood election – despite the SNP failing to secure an overall majority.

Ms Sturgeon insisted that her chances of winning an overall majority, which declined dramatically after the SNP failed to capture Aberdeenshire West from the Tories, had always been a “long shot”.