Scotland's government intends to hold a second independence referendum on October 19, 2023, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Tuesday, while conceding it may not have the power to do so without London's approval.

She told the Edinburgh parliament that to ensure legal clarity, her government would seek an opinion from the UK Supreme Court before it asks voters: "Should Scotland be an independent country?

Sturgeon said told Scotland's parliament that independence would not be easy but would "help us chart our own course".

She will now write to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask for talks on setting out a path towards a second referendum on Scotland's independence. 

The country held a vote in 2014 after the UK government granted the power, but the two Conservative prime ministers that have been in place since then have refused to give the Section 30 order.

In her letter to Johnson, Sturgeon said: "It is, in my view, unacceptable democratically that the route to a referendum has to be via the courts rather than by co-operation between the UK and Scottish governments."

She told the parliament that the UK government is "regrettably" refusing to respect Scottish democracy and said she will not allow it to be a "prisoner" of the British prime minister. 

Sturgeon said the people of Scotland had already "said yes" to holding a referendum when they elected last may MSPs that were committed to that outcome.

The UK government has previously said "now is not the time" for another referendum. 

In the 2014 vote, the No side won with 55% of the vote.