Scottish lawmakers voted Tuesday to seek a new referendum on independence, to be held within the next two years – an unwanted headache for the British government as it prepares to push the European Union exit button.

The Edinburgh-based legislature voted 69-59 to back First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's call to ask the British government for an independence vote.

Sturgeon says Scots must be given the chance to vote on their future before Britain leaves the European Union.

Britain as a whole voted to leave the bloc in a referendum last year, but Scots voted by a large margin to stay.

Scottish voters rejected independence in a 2014 referendum that Sturgeon's Scottish National Party called a once-in-a-generation vote.

The Scottish Parliament had been due to vote on Sturgeon's referendum demand last week, but the session was adjourned after Wednesday's extremist attack in London.

...