Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday that Scotland cannot be forced to stay in the U.K. if the Scottish people vote for independence in a referendum.

Sturgeon believes that she has a mandate for a Scottish independence referendum after her pro-secession Scottish National Party won 48 out of 59 Scottish seats in parliament Thursday in the general election.

“If he thinks ... saying no is the end of the matter then he is going to find himself completely and utterly wrong,” Sturgeon told the BBC.

“You cannot hold Scotland in the union against its will ... If the United Kingdom is to continue it can only be by consent. And if Boris Johnson is confident in the case for the union then he should be confident enough to make that case and allow people to decide,” she continued.

Scotland is at odds with Johnson over the U.K.'s decision to leave the European Union, known as Brexit. In 2016, the U.K. held a referendum on whether it would stay in the EU, with the U.K. voting to leave.

Scotland saw a 62% majority who wanted to remain in the EU.

Johnson has said that he would not allow another independence referendum for Scotland, as it had already voted on the issue in 2014 and decided to stay with the U.K.

"We had one in 2014, the British people, the people of Scotland, were told in 2014 that that was a once-in-a-generation event," Johnson said in November, referring to the previous independence referendum.

Michael Gove, a Conservative Party politician, said Sunday that the U.K.'s government will "absolutely" not allow another Scottish independence referendum in the next five years.

The Scottish National Party says on its website that it believes that "EU membership delivers many social, economic and cultural benefits for individuals, business and communities across Scotland."

The party believes that Brexit could harm Scotland's economy and that it would be preferable to stay in the European single market.

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