The Britain that Scotland voted to stay a part of in a 2014 referendum "does not exist any more", Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Sunday following Britain's vote to leave the European Union (EU).
"The UK that Scotland voted to stay in in 2014 does not exist any more," Sturgeon told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show after saying a second independence referendum was now "highly likely".
"This is not going to be a re-run of the 2014 referendum. The context and the circumstances have changed dramatically," she said.
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EU calls for UK to 'Brexit' quickly
Scots voted by 55 percent to 45 percent to stay in the United Kingdom in the 2014 vote.
But a Panelbase survey for the Sunday Times found 52 percent of respondents now wanted to break with the rest of Britain, while 48 percent were opposed.
This comes after Thursday's historic EU referendum in which Britain as a whole voted by 52 percent to 48 percent to leave - but 62 percent of Scots voted to stay.
Within hours of that result, Sturgeon said that a new independence referendum to be held within two years was "highly likely" and said she wanted a role in Britain's upcoming negotiations with Brussels.
"What's going to happen with the UK is that there are going to be deeply damaging and painful consequences... I want to try and protect Scotland from that," Sturgeon, leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), said on Sunday.
Asked what Scotland's negotiating position with Brussels could be and whether it would have to join as a new member state, Sturgeon said: "This would not be a decision about Scotland leaving... this would actually be a decision about Scotland staying."
"Our argument is that we don't want to leave. It's not that we want to leave and get back in," she said.
She also cautioned any future British prime minister against vetoing a new Scottish independence vote.
"I think people in Scotland would find that completely unacceptable," she said.
Malcolm Turnbull has urged Australians to embrace uncertainty after Britain's referendum result. (AAP) Source: AAP
Europe wants to get Britain out as soon as possible
European powers demanded a prompt divorce on Saturday as Britain's seismic vote to abandon the EU sparked bitter break-up rows at home and abroad.
Cameron has said he will stay on until a successor is found from within his governing Conservative party, which could take until October, at which point the new prime minister will launch the EU exit negotiations.
But European powers urged Britain not to delay amid fears of a domino-effect of exit votes in eurosceptic member states that could imperil the integrity of the bloc.
"We join together in saying that this process must begin as soon as possible so we don't end up in an extended limbo period," said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier after a meeting in Berlin.
Ministers of the six original EU members - Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg - held an emergency meeting to grapple with the first defection in the bloc's 60-year history.
France's Jean-Marc Ayrault directly urged Cameron to go quickly, telling AFP: "A new prime minister must be designated, that will take a few days but there is a certain urgency."
With characteristic caution, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said only that Britain's exit talks should not "drag on forever" and that until they were completed, Britain would remain a fully-fledged EU member.
"There is no reason to be nasty in the negotiations. We have to follow the rules of the game," she said.
'Take a bow'
The often poisonous EU campaign revealed a split between what The Independent newspaper called "those doing well from globalisation and those 'left behind' and not seeing the benefits in jobs or wages".
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is facing calls to resign over a perceived lacklustre campaign to stay in the EU, which resulted in many Labour voters choosing to leave.
Corbyn sacked shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn is the early hours of Sunday following reports he was leading a coup against the Labour leader.
"It's your fault, Jeremy. When are you resigning?" shouted one party activist as Corbyn attended Gay Pride in London.
Young people, graduates, and big cities tended to favour "Remain". Elder, less educated people and rural populations were more likely to back "Brexit".
"I feel angry. Those who voted leave, they're not going to fight the future," said Mary Treinen, 23, a technological consultant from London's trendy Shoreditch district.
Britain's rejection of the EU is being seen as a victory for the anti-establishment rhetoric of the Brexit campaign, a feature of growing populism across Europe.
Dutch far-right MP Geert Wilders and French National Front leader Marine Le Pen immediately called for referendums on EU membership in their own countries.
"Take a bow, Britain!" eurosceptic newspaper the Daily Mail wrote across its front page on Saturday.
"It was the day the quiet people of Britain rose up against an arrogant, out-of-touch political class and a contemptuous Brussels elite," it said.
