Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she plans to trigger another independence referendum. Picture: AFP/Glyn Kirk

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon declared on Monday that she would move quickly to give voters a new chance to leave the United Kingdom because Scotland was being forced into a “hard Brexit” that it didn’t vote for.

Brits voted in a June 23 referendum to leave the EU, but Scots voted by 62 to 38 per cent to remain.

Scotland must not be “taken down a path that we do not want to go down without a choice,” Ms Sturgeon said.

But the leader of the Scottish Tories Ruth Davidson said her party will try to block the plans in the Holyrood chamber next week.

She tweeted: “Nicola Sturgeon has today chosen the path of further division and uncertainty. We will vote against any request for a Section 30 next week.”

A statement from the party branded it “utterly irresponsible”, saying the First Minister has “failed in her job to act in the interests of all of us”.

Nigel Farage tweeted that Ms Sturgeon “would lose a second independence referendum big time”.

Ms Sturgeon’s announcement in Edinburgh comes as Britain’s Parliament was on the verge of approving a Brexit bill that would allow the UK to start the formal withdrawal from the EU within days.

She said she would ask the Scottish Parliament next week to start the process of calling a referendum, to be held between the fall of 2018 and the spring of 2019.

She said by then, details of Britain’s post-Brexit deal with the EU would be clear and Scottish voters would be able to make “an informed choice.”

The British government must agree before a legally binding referendum can be held. There was no immediate response from British Prime Minister Theresa May’s office.

Nicola Sturgeon (right) is seeking to avoid British Prime Minister Theresa May’s (left) “hard Brexit”. Picture: AFP/James GlossopSource:AFP

In a 2014 referendum, Scottish voters rejected independence by a margin of 55 per cent to 45 per cent, but Ms Sturgeon said that the UK’s decision to leave the EU had brought about a “material change of circumstances.”

Ms Sturgeon said that she had sought compromise with May’s government, but had been met with a “brick wall of intransigence.”

Ms Sturgeon has been seeking a deal that will allow Scotland to stay in the European single market and customs union.

Pro-Scottish independence supporters with the Scottish Saltire flag at a rally in George Square in Glasgow. Picture: AFP/Andy BuchananSource:AFP

But she said she has become convinced May is pursuing a “hard Brexit” that would leave Britain outside those arrangements, which many UK businesses see as crucial.

“I am not turning my back on further discussions should the UK government change its mind,” she said.

Ms Sturgeon is taking a big gamble. Although the prospect of Brexit has likely boosted support for independence, polls do not indicate it has majority backing. And there is no guarantee that the EU would allow an independent Scotland to remain a member.

“Sometimes you’ve got to do what you think it right in politics,” Ms Sturgeon said. “And I think it’s right for Scotland to have a choice.”