British PM Cameron Rules Out Second Scottish Independence Referendum

British Prime Minister David Cameron has ruled out the prospect of Scotland holding a second independence referendum, a year after the Scots rejected breaking away from the United Kingdom in a historic vote.

In a press release published by his office Cameron said, "We all agreed, as do the Scottish public, that the independence referendum should be a 'once in a generation' or a 'once in a lifetime' event. So now it is time to move on."

Following the 2014 referendum, in which the Scots voted to stay in the union by 55 to 45 percent, the Scottish National Party (SNP) enjoyed a huge surge of support in the country. In the May general election this year the party won 56 of Scotland's 59 seats in the British parliament.

SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is due to give a speech today to mark the anniversary of the referendum, in which she will reportedly say that Cameron is "living on borrowed time" as he strives to stop Scotland leaving the union.

Earlier this week Sturgeon told the Sunday Herald newspaper that she will use her 2016 election manifesto for the Scottish parliament to set out conditions under which another referendum could be held. "Our manifesto will set out what we think around the circumstances in which, and the possible timescales in which, a second referendum might be appropriate," she said. "It will then be down to people to accept whether they vote for that manifesto."

However, the British prime minister has repeatedly made clear his opposition to such a vote and instead has focused on devolution. Cameron confirmed on Friday that his Conservative government is to amend devolution legislation to make the Scottish parliament at Holyrood "one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world," but stressed that a second referendum was not an option.

"Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon and I signed the Edinburgh Agreement which pledged we would all respect the outcome of last year's momentous vote.... Some may want to obsess about separation, but I am focused on delivering devolution."